# T-knife Therapeutics

> T-knife Therapeutics is a clinical-stage biotech engineering T-cell receptor (TCR-T) therapies to treat solid tumors. Spun out of Berlin's Max Delbrück Center in 2015, it built a proprietary humanized-TCR mouse platform (HuTCR) that grows a full human immune repertoire in mice, letting the company harvest fully human TCRs naturally selected for affinity and specificity. Now dual-based in San Francisco and Berlin, T-knife is advancing 'supercharged' TCR-T candidates - including a PRAME-targeted, CRISPR-armored therapy (TK-6302) entering the clinic - against cancers that have long resisted cell therapy.

- **Founded:** 2015
- **Headquarters:** San Francisco, California, United States (R&D in Berlin, Germany)
- **Founders:** Thomas Blankenstein (Scientific Founder (Professor, Max Delbrück Center)), Elisa Kieback (Co-Founder), Holger Specht (Co-Founder (IBB Beteiligungsgesellschaft))
- **Team size:** ~55 employees
- **Products:** HuTCR Platform, MyT Platform, TK-8001, TK-6302
- **Notable:** Spun out of the Max Delbrück Center in 2015 and built a proprietary humanized-TCR (HuTCR) mouse platform., Raised a $110 million Series B in August 2021 led by Fidelity Management & Research Company., Dosed its first patient with TK-8001 in the IMAG1NE Phase 1/2 trial in October 2022.

## Products & services

- **HuTCR Platform** — A proprietary humanized T-cell receptor mouse platform that carries a full human TCR repertoire, allowing the company to isolate fully human TCRs naturally selected in vivo for optimal affinity and specificity.
- **MyT Platform** — Next-generation discovery and engineering platform for building supercharged TCR-Ts, identifying receptors optimized for affinity, specificity, and sustained T cell function in the tumor microenvironment.
- **TK-8001** — A MAGE-A1-specific TCR-T therapy for solid tumors, evaluated in the IMAG1NE Phase 1/2 clinical trial (first patient dosed October 2022).
- **TK-6302** — A supercharged, multi-armored PRAME-targeted TCR-T therapy combining a high-affinity receptor, a CD8 coreceptor, and a FAS-based switch receptor, produced with CRISPR-based non-viral manufacturing; entering the Phase 1 ATLAS trial in Europe.

## Achievements

- Spun out of the Max Delbrück Center in 2015 and built a proprietary humanized-TCR (HuTCR) mouse platform.
- Raised a $110 million Series B in August 2021 led by Fidelity Management & Research Company.
- Dosed its first patient with TK-8001 in the IMAG1NE Phase 1/2 trial in October 2022.
- Filed and secured European authorization (March 2026) for the Phase 1 ATLAS trial of TK-6302, a CRISPR-based, multi-armored PRAME TCR-T.
- Raised roughly $191M in total venture funding across seed, Series A, and Series B.

## Latest updates

- **2026-03** — Announced European authorization of the Clinical Trial Application for TK-6302, a multi-armored, CRISPR-based T cell therapy for solid tumors, clearing the Phase 1 ATLAS trial to proceed.
- **2025-11** — Filed the Clinical Trial Application for the Phase 1 ATLAS trial of TK-6302, a supercharged PRAME-targeted TCR-T therapy, and presented supporting preclinical data at the SITC Annual Meeting.
- **2023-02** — Appointed Behzad Kharabi, M.D., as Chief Medical Officer.
- **2022-10** — Dosed the first patient with TK-8001 in the IMAG1NE Phase 1/2 clinical trial for MAGE-A1-positive solid tumors.

## Links

- Website: https://t-knife.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/t-knife

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/t-knife-therapeutics
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-07-10