# CoStim Pharmaceuticals

Source: https://onco.cc/companies/costim-pharmaceuticals/  
OnCo record `costim-pharmaceuticals` (Company). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

CoStim Pharmaceuticals worked on antibodies that remove the signals cancers use to switch off the immune system, including against PD-1. Novartis bought it in 2014 while its programmes were still in the laboratory.

## Summary

CoStim Pharmaceuticals was a privately held Cambridge, Massachusetts company focused on harnessing the immune system to remove immune-blocking signals from cancer. Novartis announced its acquisition on 17 February 2014, adding late-discovery-stage immunotherapy programmes directed at several targets including PD-1, to complement its CAR-T work with the University of Pennsylvania; terms were not disclosed. Atlas Venture lists CoStim as developing antibodies for immuno-oncology, sold to Novartis in 2014, and an Atlas partner's blog post says it was founded in 2012.

## Fields

- Kind: Company
- Last checked: 2026-11-04
- Also known as: CoStim Pharmaceuticals Inc.
- HQ: Cambridge, MA
- Type: biotech

## Notes

- Founding year 2012 is from the LifeSciVC post by an Atlas Venture partner, not from a company filing.
- No company website or trial found; programmes were preclinical at acquisition.

## Sources

- Novartis acquires CoStim (SEC 6-K, 17 February 2014): https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1114448/000110465914010831/a14-6099_16k.htm
- LifeSciVC post on the acquisition: https://lifescivc.com/2014/02/immuno-oncology-startup-costim-pharmaceuticals-acquired-by-novartis/
- Atlas Venture portfolio entry: https://atlasventure.com/portfolio/

## Connected records

- fronts: [Immunotherapy](https://onco.cc/fronts/immunotherapy/)
- technologies: [Immune checkpoint inhibitors](https://onco.cc/technologies/checkpoint-inhibitor/)
- targets: [PD-1](https://onco.cc/targets/pd1/)
- companies: [Atlas Venture](https://onco.cc/companies/atlas-venture/), [Novartis](https://onco.cc/companies/novartis/)

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