Bristol Myers ends deal with Cellares, cell therapy manufacturer to reorg
Bristol Myers Squibb ended its partnership with cell therapy manufacturer Cellares, leading the biotech startup to reorganize and lay off 100 employees. The termination follows production setbacks involving Cellares' automated platform used to manufacture an approved CAR-T cell therapy for blood cancer. Cellares leadership intends to resize the company after losing this large customer. The loss of the agreement has forced the fast-growing startup to reduce its workforce to align with its current operational scale.
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- ✓ Bristol Myers Squibb ended its agreement with cell therapy manufacturer Cellares.
- ✓ Cellares plans to lay off 100 employees.
- ✓ The partnership involved a blood cancer drug.
What changed
Bristol Myers Squibb exited its pact with Cellares due to production problems, triggering a 100-person layoff.
Live updates
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Bristol Myers Squibb Terminates Cell Therapy Deal with Cellares
Bristol Myers Squibb ended its partnership with cell therapy manufacturer Cellares, leading the biotech startup to reorganize and lay off 100 employees. The termination follows production setbacks involving Cellares' automated platform used to manufacture an approved CAR-T cell therapy for blood cancer. Cellares leadership intends to resize the company after losing this large customer. The loss of the agreement has forced the fast-growing startup to reduce its workforce to align with its current operational scale.
Why it matters
CAR-T therapies are complex blood cancer treatments that require precise manufacturing. Automation in this field aims to reduce costs and increase speed of delivery to patients. The failure of this partnership highlights the technical difficulty of scaling automated cell therapy production.
What is confirmed
- Bristol Myers Squibb ended its agreement with cell therapy manufacturer Cellares.
- Cellares plans to lay off 100 employees.
- The partnership involved a blood cancer drug.
Still unconfirmed
- The termination was caused by setbacks in using Cellares' automated platform to make an approved CAR-T cell therapy.
- Cellares CEO intends to resize the company following the loss of a large customer.
What to watch next
- Announcement of new manufacturing partners for Cellares
- Updates on the production status of the affected CAR-T therapy
confidence 90%Sources used for this update (7)
- Endpoints News — Bristol Myers ends deal with Cellares, cell therapy manufacturer to reorg
- Reuters — Bristol Myers ends blood cancer drug deal with cell therapy maker Cellares
- BioPharma Dive — Cellares, a cell therapy manufacturing specialist, to lay off 100 employees
- Fierce Pharma — Cellares CEO seeks to 'resize' company after loss of 'large' cell therapy manufacturing customer
- The Business Journals — Fast-growing biotech startup Cellares plans layoffs after losing major customer
- Seeking Alpha — Bristol Myers Squibb exits Cellares pact (BMY:NYSE)
- www.biospace.com — BMS ends Cellares pact over cell therapy production problems, triggering layoffs
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