BrainChild Bio raised $116 million in a venture financing to advance CAR-T programs targeting childhood brain cancers, with the bulk of proceeds supporting a pivotal registrational push. The company’s lead candidate, BCB-276, is designed to treat diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG) by targeting B7-H3 and aims to move toward a biologics license application. BrainChild reported that it dosed the first patient in its Phase 2 ILLUMINATE trial (NCT07680439), an open-label, single-arm study evaluating efficacy and safety in children and young adults after standard-of-care focal radiation. The primary endpoint is overall survival, with secondary measures including radiographic response, presence of BCB-276 in cerebrospinal fluid, and progression-free survival. The financing also supports additional development for BCB-214 in glioblastoma and expands the manufacturing and regulatory infrastructure needed for later-stage development, reflecting a rare scale of funding focused specifically on pediatric CNS oncology.