‘Kid-first’ startup BrainChild wants to shift the paradigm on pediatric cancer drugs

That’s the idea behind BrainChild Bio, a newly-launched spinout of Seattle Children’s Hospital focused on childhood central nervous system cancers. Rather than starting with regulatory approval for its drugs in adults, the company will aim for a greenlight for peds patients first. Its inaugural program centers on a new CAR-T platform developed by Jensen’s lab, which is already being tested in children with different types of brain cancers, including the universally-fatal brain cancer diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma, or DIPG—through the BrainChild clinical trials.