BMS inks CAR T cell therapy manufacturing deal with Cellares

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Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS) and Cellares have announced a worldwide capacity reservation and supply agreement for the manufacture of CAR T cell therapies. The deal is valued at up to $380 million in upfront and milestone payments.

The agreement will see BMS use Cellares’ fully automated cell therapy manufacturing platform for the clinical and commercial-scale manufacturing of select CAR T cell therapies.

Cellares will optimise, automate, and tech-transfer select BMS CAR T cell therapies onto its cell therapy manufacturing platform, the Cell Shuttle. The company will also dedicate multiple systems for Bristol Myers Squibb’s “exclusive use” across its smart factories in the US, Europe and Japan.

Manufacturing of cell therapies is both operationally and technically complex.

The collaboration strengthens Bristol Myers Squibb’s global network of cell therapy manufacturing facilities. It also “provides increased agility, improved scalability and potential to improve turnaround time to support the company’s CAR T inline and pipeline assets.”   

Lynelle Hoch, president, Cell Therapy Organization, Bristol Myers Squibb commented: “The agreement with Cellares is our latest step forward in support of our comprehensive strategy to unlock the full potential of CAR T therapy to deliver transformative treatments to as many patients as possible, as quickly as possible.”

The agreement follows an existing collaboration between BMS and Cellares. In August 2023, BMS participated in Cellares’ Series C financing to launch the first Smart Factory for cell therapy manufacturing. It also joined Cellares’ Technology Adoption Partnership (TAP) Program to evaluate the Cell Shuttle’s automated manufacturing capabilities.

Fabian Gerlinghaus, CEO and co-founder of Cellares added: “Our collaboration with Bristol Myers Squibb and our collective expertise furthers our mission to accelerate access to life-saving cell therapies for patients globally.” 

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