BMS ends Cellares pact over cell therapy production problems, triggering layoffs

{
  "signal_id": "33885598-9103-c269-b1a7-cc8cc7c15dfd",
  "signal_type": "news",
  "signal_subtype": "ends_partnership_with",
  "detected_at": "2026-08-26T12:48:13+00:00",
  "company": {
    "name": "Bristol Myers Squibb",
    "domain": "bms.com"
  },
  "data": {
    "url": "https://www.biospace.com/business/bms-ends-cellares-pact-over-cell-therapy-production-problems-triggering-layoffs",
    "title": "BMS ends Cellares pact over cell therapy production problems, triggering layoffs - BioSpace",
    "excerpt": "Bristol Myers Squibb has ended an alliance with Cellares after finding its former partner’s cell therapy system failed to meet the requirements necessary to make the CAR T-cell immunotherapy Breyanzi. Cellares plans to lay off about 100 people in response to the loss of the key contract. In 2024, BMS struck a $380 million global capacity reservation and supply agreement with Cellares. The deal positioned BMS to use Cellares’ Cell Shuttle system for end-to-end, fully automated production of CAR-T cell therapies at clinical and commercial scales. Now, BMS has walked away from the deal after assessing the potential to use Cell Shuttle to make its CAR-T cell therapy Breyanzi. “Following a comprehensive evaluation, Bristol Myers Squibb determined that the Cellares-partnered Cell Shuttle system could not meet the necessary requirements to make commercial Breyanzi,” a BMS spokesperson told BioSpace via email. “This determination is specific to Breyanzi and its established, regulatory-approved manufacturing process.” The FDA approved Breyanzi, a CD19-directed CAR-T cell therapy, in 2021. BMS produces the drug through several internal sites, plus through specialized external manufacturers such as Oxford BioMedica. Experts have cautioned in the past that changing cell therapy production post-approval is challenging. Anna McMahon, director of regulatory affairs at Cellares, told BioSpace...",
    "summary": "Bristol Myers Squibb has terminated its partnership with Cellares after determining that Cellares's cell therapy system did not meet the necessary requirements to manufacture the CAR T-cell immunotherapy Breyanzi.",
    "planning": false,
    "image_url": "https://static.biospace.com/dims4/default/6887fb6/2147483647/strip/true/crop/3644x2050+0+342/resize/1440x810!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fk1-prod-biospace.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2F28%2F8c%2F58d1ad814a5eae347623f92244c4%2Fistock-2164034397.jpg",
    "confidence": 0.95,
    "published_at": "2026-08-26T12:48:13Z",
    "article_sentence": "Bristol Myers Squibb has ended an alliance with Cellares after finding its former partner’s cell therapy system failed to meet the requirements necessary to make the CAR T-cell immunotherapy Breyanzi.",
    "related_company_name": "Cellares",
    "related_company_domain": "cellares.com"
  }
}

curl https://signals.autobound.ai/v1/signals/33885598-9103-c269-b1a7-cc8cc7c15dfd \
  -H "X-API-KEY: $AUTOBOUND_API_KEY"

curl -X POST https://signals.autobound.ai/v1/companies/enrich \
  -H "X-API-KEY: $AUTOBOUND_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"domain":"bms.com","limit":20}'