A spinout from the lab of Nobel laureate Jennifer Doudna has raised $82 million to create drugs that, with a single infusion, can turn patients’ immune cells into cancer- and autoimmune disease-fighting drones.

It’s the latest entrant in a high-stakes race to develop what’s known scientifically as in vivo CAR-T treatments. Today’s CAR-T therapies are highly effective at treating certain blood cancers, but patients’ cells have to be removed, reengineered in a facility, and then reinfused — a toxic, expensive, and cumbersome process . Investors and pharma companies are spending billions to create alternatives that transform patients’ cells in their body.

The company, known as Azalea Therapeutics, quietly raised a $17 million seed round in 2023 and then closed $65 million in new Serie

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