Company: RNAC
Filing Date: 2025-03-13
Form Type: 10-K
Source: 0001453687-25-000060
Chunk: 36

Company: Cartesian Therapeutics, Inc.
Filing Date: 2025-03-13
Form: 10-K
Item: Item 1
Chunk 36
---
Item 1.  Business

Our Corporate History and Background

The Company (formerly known as Selecta Biosciences, Inc., or Selecta) was incorporated in Delaware on December 10, 2007, and is headquartered in Frederick, Maryland. On November 13, 2023, the Company and the Delaware corporation which, immediately prior to the Merger (as defined below), was known as Cartesian Therapeutics, Inc., or Old Cartesian, entered into an Agreement and Plan of Merger, or the Merger Agreement, by and among the Company, Sakura Merger Sub I, Inc., a Delaware corporation and a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company, or First Merger Sub, Sakura Merger Sub II, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company and wholly owned subsidiary of the Company, or Second Merger Sub, and Old Cartesian. Pursuant to the Merger Agreement, and simultaneously with execution thereof, (i) First Merger Sub merged with and into Old Cartesian, pursuant to which Old Cartesian was the surviving corporation, or the First Step Surviving Corporation, and became a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company, or the First Merger, and (ii) immediately following the First Merger, Old Cartesian (as the First Step Surviving Corporation) merged with and into Second Merger Sub, pursuant to which Second Merger Sub was the surviving company, or the Surviving Company, and continued under the name “Cartesian Bio, LLC”, or the Second Merger and, together with the First Merger, the Merger. In connection with the Merger and pursuant to the Merger Agreement, the Company (which was known as Selecta Biosciences, Inc. until immediately prior to the Merger) changed its corporate name to Cartesian Therapeutics, Inc. 

Overview

We are a clinical-stage biotechnology company pioneering mRNA cell therapy for the treatment of autoimmune diseases. We leverage our proprietary technology and manufacturing platform to introduce one or more mRNA molecules into cells to enhance their function. Unlike DNA, mRNA degrades naturally over time without integrating into the cell’s genetic material. Therefore, our mRNA cell therapies are distinguished by their capacity to be dosed repeatedly like conventional drugs, administered in an outpatient setting, and given without pre-treatment chemotherapy required with many conventional cell therapies. In a placebo-controlled Phase 2b clinical trial in patients with myasthenia gravis, or MG, a chronic autoimmune disease that causes disabling muscle weakness and fatigue, we observed that our lead product candidate, Descartes-08,