CARGO Therapeutics is a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing next-generation CAR T-cell therapies for cancer. CAR T-cell therapy works by engineering a patient's own T cells to recognize and destroy cancer cells. CARGO's focus is on addressing the key limitations of currently approved CAR T therapies — tumor antigen escape, T-cell exhaustion, and manufacturing unreliability. CARGO's lead program is CRG-023, an investigational tri-specific CAR T therapy that simultaneously targets three B-cell antigens (CD19, CD20, and CD22) to prevent tumors from evading treatment by downregulating any single target. CRG-023 is designed for large B-cell lymphoma and other B-cell malignancies, and received FDA clearance to begin a Phase 1 trial in January 2025. CARGO also has an early-stage allogeneic platform — a "universal vector" designed to enable off-the-shelf CAR T therapies made from donor cells rather than the patient's own cells. CARGO has no approved products and generates no revenue; the company is entirely in R&D. Its path to value creation follows the standard clinical-stage biotech model: generate clinical data, then either advance toward regulatory approval independently or pursue a partnership, licensing deal, or acquisition. In January 2025, CARGO discontinued its prior lead program, firi-cel, after Phase 2 data showed an insufficient benefit-risk profile, which triggered a roughly 50% workforce reduction and a strategic review.