AbbVie has announced a $2.1 billion acquisition of Capstan Therapeutics, marking a significant expansion into the in vivo CAR-T therapy arena. Capstan’s lead program, CPTX2309, a phase 1 anti-CD19 CAR-T candidate, is designed for autoimmune diseases and employs mRNA technology encapsulated in lipid nanoparticles for direct in vivo cell engineering. This acquisition bolsters AbbVie’s immunology pipeline with additional preclinical programs and represents a strategic move to overcome manufacturing and scalability challenges associated with traditional CAR-T treatments. The phase 1 trial in healthy volunteers began in Australia, with further development planned for autoimmune and fibrotic indications. Capstan had raised substantial venture capital funding and was last valued around $500 million prior to the acquisition.