Bristol Myers Squibb ends $380 million Cellares CAR-T manufacturing partnership
BMS concluded that Cellares’ automated Cell Shuttle platform could not meet the specific requirements for commercial Breyanzi production, prompting Cellares to cut around 100 positions.
Bristol Myers Squibb has terminated its manufacturing partnership with Cellares after determining that the Cell Shuttle automated manufacturing system could not meet the requirements necessary to produce commercial batches of its approved CAR-T therapy Breyanzi (lisocabtagene maraleucel).
The termination ends a global capacity reservation and supply agreement originally valued at up to $380 million and has led Cellares to plan approximately 100 job cuts as it resizes its operations.
Field | Content |
Alert Type | Industry Update |
Topic | Cell therapy manufacturing; Partnership termination; Workforce |
Organisation(s) | Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS); Cellares |
Affected Stakeholders | Cellares employees; BMS cell therapy manufacturing operations; CAR-T manufacturing partners |
Therapy Area(s) | Oncology; Haematology; Cell therapy |
Geography | United States |
What Happened | BMS has ended its partnership with Cellares following an evaluation of the Cell Shuttle automated cell therapy manufacturing platform for production of Breyanzi. BMS said the system could not meet the necessary requirements for manufacturing commercial Breyanzi and stressed that its conclusion was specific to Breyanzi and the therapy’s established, regulatory-approved manufacturing process. Cellares said it strongly disagrees with BMS’s characterisation and noted that Cell Shuttle has produced GMP drug product for an FDA-regulated clinical programme. The companies originally entered a global capacity reservation and supply agreement in 2024 valued at up to $380 million. (BioSpace) |
Why It Matters | The termination illustrates the practical difficulty of introducing a different manufacturing platform for an already approved autologous cell therapy with an established regulatory manufacturing process. For Cellares, the loss is commercially significant because BMS represented a major Cell Shuttle partnership; for BMS, the decision means Breyanzi production will continue without the planned Cellares manufacturing route. (BioSpace) |
Supporting Context | Cell Shuttle is designed to automate end-to-end CAR-T manufacturing at clinical and commercial scale. BMS entered the Cellares agreement in 2024 as part of its manufacturing strategy, while Breyanzi has been FDA approved since 2021 and is currently produced through BMS facilities and specialist external manufacturers. (BioSpace) |
Who Is Most Affected | Cellares and its workforce face the most immediate impact. A California WARN filing indicates that the company plans to permanently eliminate approximately 100 positions on 20 October 2026, spanning engineering, commercial operations, recruitment, software and other functions. (BioSpace) |
Industry Impact | The setback highlights a key challenge for cell therapy manufacturing: technologies designed to automate and scale production must still fit the specific manufacturing and regulatory requirements attached to individual therapies. BMS emphasised that its decision relates specifically to Breyanzi, so it should not be interpreted as establishing that Cell Shuttle is unsuitable for other cell therapy programmes. (BioSpace) |
Key Takeaway | BMS’s decision ends a major commercial validation opportunity for Cellares’ automated manufacturing platform and shows the barriers involved in changing production processes for an already approved CAR-T therapy. |
What to Watch | Cellares’ implementation of the approximately 100 planned job cuts, whether the company secures additional commercial-scale manufacturing customers and how its other clinical and commercial Cell Shuttle programmes progress following the loss of BMS. |
Primary Source | Bristol Myers Squibb and Cellares statements reported by BioSpace |
Relevant Date | 26 August 2026 |
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