Cellares and City of Hope to Automate Manufacturing of Solid Tumor CAR T Cell Therapy

• Collaboration focuses on City of Hope’s IL13RA2-EGFR targeting CAR T cell program addressing a type of fast-growing, aggressive brain cancer called glioblastoma multiforme.
• The collaboration addresses solid tumor manufacturing bottlenecks and accelerates advancement toward clinical trials.

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO & LOS ANGELES, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Cellares, the first Integrated Development and Manufacturing Organization (IDMO), and City of Hope^®, one of the largest and most advanced cancer research and treatment organizations in the United States, today announced a collaboration to evaluate automated manufacturing of City of Hope’s investigational gene-modified CAR T cell therapy targeting glioblastoma multiforme, an aggressive solid tumor brain cancer with limited treatment options.*

City of Hope is a leader in CAR T for glioblastoma and was the first to administer CAR T cell therapy locally in the brain through direct injection to the tumor site. City of Hope has deep expertise in developing gene-modified cell therapies for solid tumors and translating those discoveries into new treatments at lifesaving speeds. Its CARpool program, an IL13RA2-EGFR targeting CAR T cell therapy, targets glioblastoma, a disease with an estimated global incidence of approximately 300,000 new diagnoses annually.

Under the collaboration, City of Hope will evaluate Cellares’ Cell Shuttle™ automated manufacturing platform and Cell Q™ automated quality control system to enable reliable, high-throughput manufacturing and quality control of its CARpool program. By engaging at the preclinical stage, the collaboration will establish platform processes and analytics purpose-built for solid tumor CAR T programs, accelerating advancement into clinical trials while enabling scalable manufacturing to meet global patient demand.

“Glioblastoma remains one of the most challenging solid tumors to treat due to its highly immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment, antigen heterogeneity and limited persistence of engineered T cells,” said Christine Brown, Ph.D., deputy director of the T Cell Therapeutics Research Laboratories at City of Hope. “Advancing CAR T therapies in this setting requires not only rigorous translational science but also highly controlled and reproducible manufacturing. We are excited to incorporate automation early in development to standardize processes and analytics, enabling the consistency required for effective clinical translation.”

“Manual, fragmented manufacturing and quality control cannot meet the scale required for large solid tumor patient populations,” said Fabian Gerlinghaus, co-founder and chief executive officer of Cellares. “By collaborating with City of Hope, we will remove these bottlenecks through automation, enabling reproducible manufacturing, lowering failure rates, and expanding patient access at commercial scale.”

* City of Hope licensed the IL13-CAR technology to Mustang Bio Inc. City of Hope is entitled to royalties from and holds equity in the company. Dr. Brown is an inventor of the technology, is entitled to a portion of the royalties and holds equity in the company.

About City of Hope

City of Hope's mission is to make hope a reality for all touched by cancer and diabetes. Founded in 1913, City of Hope has grown into one of the largest and most advanced cancer research and treatment organizations in the United States, and one of the leading research centers for diabetes and other life-threatening illnesses. City of Hope research has been the basis for numerous breakthrough cancer medicines, as well as human synthetic insulin and monoclonal antibodies. With an independent, National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center that is ranked among the nation’s top cancer centers by U.S. News & World Report at its core, City of Hope’s uniquely integrated model spans cancer care, research and development, academics and training, and a broad philanthropy program that powers its work. City of Hope’s growing national system includes its Los Angeles campus, Orange County, California, campus, a network of clinical care locations across Southern California and cancer treatment centers and outpatient facilities in the Atlanta, Chicago and Phoenix areas. City of Hope’s affiliated group of organizations includes Translational Genomics Research Institute and AccessHopeTM. For more information about City of Hope, follow us on Facebook, X, YouTube, Instagram and LinkedIn.

About Cellares

Cellares is the first Integrated Development and Manufacturing Organization (IDMO), providing global cell therapy development and manufacturing services through an Industry 4.0 approach to the mass manufacture of the living drugs of the 21st century. The company enables biopharmaceutical partners to develop, scale, and commercialize cell therapies with the capacity, reliability, and economics required to meet total patient demand.

Cellares’ fully automated platforms - Cell Shuttle™ for end-to-end cell therapy manufacturing and Cell Q™ for automated in-process and release quality control - are deployed across its network of IDMO Smart Factories worldwide. These technologies deliver industry-leading manufacturing economics, higher process success rates, and the ability to produce up to 10× more cell therapy batches than conventional CDMOs with comparable footprint and headcount, resulting in the lowest cost of manufacturing in the industry.

Headquartered in South San Francisco, California, Cellares operates its first commercial-scale IDMO Smart Factory in Bridgewater, New Jersey, with additional facilities under construction in Europe and Japan. Through its global manufacturing network, Cellares is purpose-built to support both clinical and commercial programs and to expand access to life-saving cell therapies worldwide. For more information, visit www.cellares.com and follow Cellares on LinkedIn.