Bristol Myers Squibb and Cellares have announced a reservation and supply agreement for the manufacture of CAR-T cell therapies in a transaction valued up to USD $380M in upfront and milestone payments.
As part of the agreement, Cellares will optimise, automate and tech-transfer specific 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 to Bristol Myers Squibb for the organisation’s exclusive use. The Cell Shuttles and Cell Qs will be deployed in Cellares’ Smart Factories in the US, EU and Japan.
With this collaboration, Bristol Myers Squibb will be able to expand its manufacturing capacity, meeting the growing demand for its range of cell therapies through a platform that is both scalable and more efficient.
“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 Organisation, Bristol Myers Squibb. “The collaboration 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 to launch the first IDMO Smart Factory in an effort to meet the demand for cell therapies globally.
That same month, Bristol Myers Squibb joined Cellares’ Technology Adoption Partnership (TAP) Program to evaluate the Cell Shuttle’s automated manufacturing capabilities.
