Waypoint Bio, an AI-native biotech using spatial biology and computer vision to design next-generation CAR T therapies for solid tumors, has closed a $20 million Series A led by Amplify Partners. General Catalyst, Time BioVentures, Mitsui Global Investments and Lux Capital joined the round alongside existing investor Hummingbird Ventures.
WAY-103: Toward The Clinic
The capital will fund advancement of Waypoint's lead program, WAY-103, into an investigator-initiated clinical trial in late 2026. WAY-103 is an in vivo CAR T candidate targeting gastric and pancreatic solid tumors. In animal models, the program has shown more than 15-fold improved potency over multiple clinical benchmarks alongside reduced on-target/off-tumor toxicity — two of the biggest hurdles for CAR T outside of haematology.
An AI-Native Discovery Stack
Waypoint combines spatial biology with computer vision and pooled screening to engineer cell-therapy designs that learn from how cells behave in their native tissue context. The company says this approach is what allowed WAY-103 to thread the needle on potency-versus-toxicity, and the Series A will further expand both the AI platform and the company's clinical development capabilities.
Strategy: Clinical Trials In China
Waypoint has structured an aggressive clinical strategy, with multiple cell therapies entering trials in China where solid-tumor patient populations are large and regulatory timelines for early-phase research can be compressed. The company's lead asset is paired with a proprietary next-generation lentiviral vector that Waypoint says supports more durable in vivo CAR T engraftment.
New CTO And Board
Dr. Patrick Kaifosh, previously co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer of neuro-AI startup CTRL-Labs and Senior Director at Meta's Reality Labs, has joined as CTO. Elliot Hershberg of Amplify Partners joins the board as part of the financing. The Series A complements growing AI investment across diagnostics and therapeutics as enterprise biotech adopts learned models in earlier stages of drug development.
Reporting based on coverage from Endpoints News, BusinessWire, Finsmes, BioSpace and citybiz.