Cellares and Lyell to Evaluate Automated Manufacturing of Lyell’s CAR T-Cell Therapy on Cellares’ Cell Shuttle Platform

• Proof-of-concept manufacturing to be provided by Cellares for a key Lyell CAR T-cell therapy using Cellares' exclusive Cell Shuttle
  
• Collaboration to evaluate potential utilization of the Cell Shuttle for future Lyell CAR T-cell clinical trials and commercialization

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO. Calif., Sept. 11, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Cellares, the first Integrated Development and Manufacturing Organization (IDMO) dedicated to clinical and industrial-scale cell therapy manufacturing, and Lyell Immunopharma (NASDAQ: LYEL), a clinical‑stage T-cell reprogramming company advancing a diverse pipeline of cell therapies for patients with solid tumors, today announced Lyell will evaluate Cellares’ automated manufacturing platform, the Cell Shuttle, through Cellares’ Technology Adoption Partnership (TAP) program. As part of the collaboration, the companies have agreed on a proof-of-concept technology transfer process for the manufacture of Lyell’s LYL797 CAR T-cell therapy, using the Cell Shuttle.

CAR T-cell therapy is a personalized immunotherapy that takes a patient’s own T cells and modifies them to recognize and kill cancer cells that have a specific biomarker. LYL797 is an investigational CAR T-cell therapy in development for the treatment of solid tumors that express ROR1, a protein present on the surface of various solid tumors. LYL797 is enhanced with Lyell’s novel genetic and epigenetic reprogramming technologies designed to generate highly tumor-reactive, longer-lasting functional T cells. Lyell is enrolling patients with triple-negative breast cancer and non-small cell lung cancer in a Phase 1 clinical trial evaluating LYL797.

“We are excited to work with Cellares to evaluate their innovative automated manufacturing processes as part of our overall manufacturing strategy to efficiently, rapidly, and cost-effectively scale manufacturing capacity for our CAR T-cell product candidates for future clinical trials and potential commercialization,” said Stephen Hill, Chief Operating Officer of Lyell. “We are impressed with the progress Cellares has made with their manufacturing capabilities, and the commitment and vision of the Cellares team to apply these technologies to help deliver new and potentially transformative therapies to patients.”