Thera-T Pharmaceutics Makes a Breakthrough in Personalized Immunotherapy

Salt Lake City, Utah - October 29, 2025

Tommy Gambles’ journey into the cutting edge of cancer therapy began in the most unexpected place: playing Xbox and painting fingernails with kids battling cancer at Primary Children’s Medical Center on the University of Utah campus in Salt Lake City, Utah. Far from being a grim experience, those four years working with young patients became a formative inspiration.

“Working with kids with cancer changed the whole course of my life. Seeing their resilience made me want to push the field of cancer therapy forward in a way that truly makes a difference for patients,” Gambles recalls.

A chemistry enthusiast since his University of Utah days, Gambles’ academic path took a pivotal turn when he joined Dr. Jindřich Henry Kopeček’s lab for his PhD. Originally drawn to polymer chemistry, he found himself immersed in immunotherapy, focusing on blood cancers such as leukemias, lymphomas, and multiple myeloma. It was during this research that Gambles had his eureka moment: a two-component T cell therapy that could revolutionize cancer treatment.

Multi-Antigen T-Cell Hybridizers "MATCH": a two-component T-cell immunotherapy for multi-specific immunotherapy. (A) Design compared to a traditional bispecific antibody therapy. (B) Customizable components for plug-and-play formulation design. (C) Consecutively dosed components improves cancer cell targeting and mitigates unwanted T-cell-mediated side effects

Unlike traditional bispecific antibodies, which direct T cells to a single cancer marker, Thera-T Pharmaceutics uses modular components that can target multiple markers simultaneously. By “splitting” the therapy into two functional parts—one that binds T cells and one that binds cancer cells—and using complementary oligonucleotides to bring them together in the body, the therapy can be fine-tuned for both efficacy and safety. Early animal studies have shown complete tumor responses with significantly lower toxicity compared to current therapies.

Schematic of MATCH recruiting a T-cell to kill a cancer cell through four different antigens simultaneously

“Traditional T cell therapies hit a narrow therapeutic window and can be toxic. With our two-component system, we can overcome resistance by targeting multiple cancer markers and reduce toxicity by controlling T cell activation more precisely than ever before,” Gambles explains.

Anti-cancer efficacy of MATCH against a human lymphoma model in mice. (A) Live mouse imaging showing cancer (blue) in untreated and treated mice. (B) Survival curve after just a single dose of MATCH therapy. (C) Cytokine release measurements compared to a clinical control bispecific antibody

Gambles’ innovation has earned industry recognition. In 2025, his startup Thera-T Pharmaceutics received the “Breakthrough Technology of the Year” award from the University of Utah’s Technology Licensing Office, an honor recognizing the most promising new technologies emerging from the university and their potential for commercialization.

Dr. Erin Rothwell, Vice President for Research at the UofU speaking at the Innovation Awards, stated: “By working together across campus and across disciplines, we bring more knowledge to the table … and by bridging your groundbreaking work … we have the power to drive meaningful change and improve lives on a global scale.”

Dr. Erin Rothwell, Vice President of Research & Bruce Hunter, Chief Innovation Officer next to Tommy Gambles at the Breakthrough of the Year awards ceremony held at the University of Utah's alumni house

Currently incubated at the University of Utah’s U2TAH program, Thera-T Pharmaceutics has received roughly $400,000 in funding, covering postdoc salary, materials, animal studies, and initial scale-up manufacturing. Gambles leads as interim CEO while assembling a team of experts, including a chief engineering officer and business development lead, with advisors who include seasoned biotech founders and clinicians guiding regulatory strategy.

Tommy Gambles and Isaac Kendell, Gambles' undergraduate understudy turned masters in biomedical engineering, at the flow cytometry core collecting data for the AI dose prediction model

The company’s next step: translating preclinical success into clinical readiness. Gambles is combining his therapy with AI modeling to personalize dosing for patients, using data on tumor burden, antigen expression, and T cell counts. This approach promises to tailor treatment with unprecedented precision.

“A year ago, I realized we needed computers to guide patient-specific dosing. By combining AI with our therapy, we can design a regimen tailored to each patient’s tumor burden, T cell counts, and expression profile—making treatment smarter, safer, and more effective,” he says.

Thera-T Pharmaceutics is a fusion of human compassion, scientific ingenuity, and entrepreneurial drive—a combination that could redefine cancer treatment in the years ahead.

Learn more at thera-tpharmaceutics.com.

View podcast of Tommy Gambles on Good Medicine hosted by Dr. David Bearss on October 28, 2025: