Pictured:Bristol Myers Squibb office in Brisbane，California/iStock， hapabapa
Bristol Myers Squibbhas signed a$380 million worldwide capacity reservation and supply deal with manufacturerCellaresto bolster the pharma’s CAR-T cell therapy production，the companiesannouncedMonday。
Cellares said it plans to automate and tech transfer“select”CAR T cell therapies from BMS to its manufacturing platform，the Cell Shuttle.The agreement aims to expand the manufacturing capacity and potentially improve the turnaround time for BMS’CAR T therapies.In return，Cellares will get upfront and milestone payments that total up to$380million。
According to Cellares，its Cell Shottle is an end-to-end，fully automated cell therapy manufacturing platform for the clinical and commercial-scale production of CAR T cell therapies.A单中心支路系统uses robotics and other automated systems to produce16batches of therapy。
Under the deal，Cellares said it would dedicate several Cell Shuttles for BMS’exclusive use，which would be deployed in Cellares’s facilities in the U.S.，Japan and the European Union.The manufacturer currently hastwo factoriesin the U.S.，a118000-square-foot facility in Bridgewater，N.J.，as well asa57000-square-foot location in South San Francisco。
“The agreement with Cellares is our latest step forward in support of our comprehensive to 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，”Lynelle Hoch，president BMS’cell therapy organization，said in a statement.“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 plfor，to help ensure we meet the high demand for these differentiated treatments，now and in the future.”
Monday’s collaboration is the latest between the two companies.BMS contributed to Cellares’$255 million Series Cin August 2023 and the pharma last year also信号，信号to Cellares’stechnology adoption partnership program，which aims to evaluate the Cell Shuttle’s automated production 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，”Cellares CEO Fabian Gerlinghaus said in a statement.“We look forward to demonstrating how our innovative technology’s emphasemphasis on standardization will accelerate commercial-scale manufacturing and worldwide deployment。”
Cellares has formed other manufacturing deals through its technology adoption partnership program，working withCabaletta Bio固定式通风机CD19 CAR T and separately withLyell Immunopharma。
BMS’deal with Cellares comes as theFDA approvedearlier this month BMS and 2seventy Bio’s CAR T treatment Abecma to be used earlier in treating multiple myeloma
Tyler Patchen is a staff writer atBioSpace.You can reach him attyler.patchen@biospace.com.Follow him onLinkedIn。
