Stylus Medicine is moving forward with its efforts to develop new genetic medicines, despite recent uncertainty in the cell therapy sector, according to a March 10 statement from CEO Emile Nuwaysir. The company, which launched in May 2025, aims to advance less complex approaches to cell therapy at a time when some major pharmaceutical companies have exited the field.
The news comes as the cell therapy landscape has seen both setbacks and renewed interest. Over the past year, Takeda and Novo Nordisk divested their cell therapy assets. However, large acquisitions such as Bristol Myers Squibb’s $1.5 billion purchase of Orbital Therapeutics and Gilead’s $7.8 billion buyout of Arcellx have signaled continued belief in the potential of CAR T therapies.
Nuwaysir said that Stylus remains committed to patients: “Patients can’t wait. It doesn’t matter what the market says, the patients are still waiting.” He added that “We see CAR T as perhaps the single biggest contribution our generation will make to medicine.”
Stylus is part of BioSpace’s NextGen Class of 2026 and was able to attract investors during a challenging fundraising environment last year. The company focuses on an in vivo approach using lipid nanoparticles carrying nucleic acids injected into patients to generate CAR T cells internally. Chief Scientific Officer Jason Fontenot described this technology as “a fundamental shift in the challenges, the expense, the delays associated with ex vivo cell therapy,” adding that it turns cell therapy “into something that’s much more like a vaccine.”
Nuwaysir acknowledged that older companies are now trying to adapt their strategies toward in vivo methods but said Stylus has an advantage by starting with this approach from inception. While Stylus plans to focus initially on oncology, both Nuwaysir and Fontenot see broader applications for immune and autoimmune diseases in the future.
Looking ahead, Stylus expects to announce its lead program within the coming year and is considering potential partnerships with larger pharmaceutical firms. Nuwaysir said his team has experienced significant interest from pharma companies: “In my 30 years, I’ve never really experienced this much positive pressure.”
