BMS Expands Cell Therapy Manufacturing Capabilities

Construction is underway for a new cell therapy manufacturing facility in Devens, MA, a part of Bristol Myers Squibb’s significant investment to support clinical and commercial manufacturing of transformative cell therapies for patients with aggressive hematological cancers.

The Devens site is the latest investment from Bristol Myers Squibb as the company expands its global manufacturing network. The 244,000 square foot facility adds to the company’s already established state-of-the-art cell therapy manufacturing network with cutting-edge technologies and highly trained manufacturing teams. The Devens site will be equipped to enable quick ramp up of capacity for clinical and commercial cell therapy products.

Manufacturing cell therapies is both operationally and technically complex because they are manufactured uniquely for each individual patient, using a patient’s own T cells as the starting material. Each batch of engineered T cells is made for infusion back to the original cancer patient, and it is critical for companies to develop reliable quality supply, and rapid turnaround time.

“Bristol Myers Squibb is at the forefront of manufacturing innovations, and we are proud that our new cell therapy facility in the Boston area will include many next generation technologies and the latest integrated digital systems,” said Ann Lee, head, cell therapy development and operations, Bristol Myers Squibb. “Bristol Myers Squibb has designed a reliable manufacturing and global supply chain network comprised of internal manufacturing facilities, which include Bothell, WA, Summit, NJ, and Warren, NJ in the U.S., as well as external manufacturing facilities in the U.S., Europe and Japan. Expanding our global footprint is critical to supplying these transformational products to patients around the world.”

The new cell therapy facility will be located on Bristol Myers Squibb’s current 89-acre Devens campus that supports process development, clinical manufacturing and commercial manufacturing for biologics medicines, including an immuno-oncology medicine. The new cell therapy facility allows accelerated career development for current and prospective employees across biologics and cell therapies on a single campus, with employees having access to all existing campus amenities. The company plans to hire several hundred employees over the next few years to support the new operations.

The Devens campus is part of Bristol Myers Squibb’s growing presence in Massachusetts. BMS also operates two R&D facilities in Cambridge, MA and will be bringing those two sites together into a new building at Cambridge Crossing in 2023.