Cellares and Bristol Myers Squibb in $380M Deal for CAR T Cell Therapies

• Bristol Myers Squibb and Cellares have announced a worldwide capacity reservation and supply agreement for the manufacture of CAR T cell therapies.

• The agreement involves Cellares optimising and automating select Bristol Myers Squibb CAR T cell therapies onto its manufacturing platform, the Cell Shuttle.

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

As part of the agreement, Cellares will optimise, automate, and tech-transfer select Bristol Myers Squibb CAR T cell therapies onto its automated and high-throughput manufacturing platform, the Cell Shuttle. Cellares will dedicate multiple Cell Shuttle and Cell Q systems with fully automated, high-throughput quality control for Bristol Myers Squibb’s exclusive use. The Cell Shuttles and Cell Qs will be deployed in Cellares’ Smart Factories in the U.S., EU, and Japan.

“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,” said Lynelle B. Hoch, president, Cell Therapy Organization, Bristol Myers Squibb. “Our collaboration with Cellares strengthens our existing internal manufacturing capabilities for CAR T cell therapies by giving us access to the first end-to-end fully automated cell therapy manufacturing platform, to help ensure we meet the high demand for these differentiated treatments, now and in the future.”

This agreement expands upon the existing collaborations between Bristol Myers Squibb and Cellares. In August 2023, Bristol Myers Squibb participated in Cellares’ Series C financing. That same month, Bristol Myers Squibb joined Cellares’ Technology Adoption Partnership (TAP) Program to evaluate the Cell Shuttle’s automated manufacturing capabilities. “This agreement with Bristol Myers Squibb is aligned with our strategy of establishing a global network of high-throughput, automated Smart Factories to meet the growing and worldwide demand for cell therapies,” said Fabian Gerlinghaus, CEO and co-founder of Cellares. “We look forward to demonstrating how our innovative technology’s emphasis on standardisation will accelerate commercial-scale manufacturing and worldwide deployment. Our collaboration with Bristol Myers Squibb and our collective expertise furthers our mission to accelerate access to life-saving cell therapies for patients globally.”