Cell therapy manufacturing company Cellares plans to lay off 100 employees
Cellares, a biotech startup focused on cell therapy manufacturing, announced a restructuring two months after completing a $327 million Series D funding round, planning to lay off 100 employees due to the loss of an unnamed pharmaceutical partner. The layoffs mainly affect software engineers, quality control, design, and manufacturing specialists, and are expected to take effect on October 20.
According to a regulatory filing, Cellares, a biotech startup focused on cell therapy manufacturing, plans to lay off 100 employees.
Just two months after completinga $327 millionSeries D funding round, the South San Francisco-based company lost an unnamed pharmaceutical partner and underwent restructuring as a result, CEO Fabian Gerlinghaus wrote in a LinkedIn post.
A spokesperson declined to name the partner but wrote in an email to BioPharma Dive that Cellares has "more than doubled the number of customers served since the beginning of the year."
Cellares describes itself as an "all-in-one" cell therapydevelopment and manufacturing organization, claiming its automated "Cell Shuttles" platform can accelerate production of these therapies. The approach has attracted interest from several drugmakers, includingBristol Myers Squibb、Sonoma BiotherapeuticsandCabaletta Bio. Among them, the deal with Bristol Myers Squibb involves payments totaling up to $380 million.
Gerlinghaus wrote on LinkedIn that companies still working with Cellares "have reaffirmed their commitment to working with Cellares, with several discussing additional projects, accelerating existing collaborations, and moving forward with us on commercial manufacturing."
According to a WARN Act filing submitted to the California Employment Development Department, affected Cellares employees will be terminated by October 20, primarily involving software engineers, quality control and design personnel, and manufacturing specialists.
Cellares' main production facility is located in New Jersey, and it is building new plants in Europe and Japan. At the end of June, the company said it wasthe onlycell therapy manufacturer selected for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's "pre-inspection" pilot program, designed to streamline regulatory review and help quickly establish manufacturing facilities in the U.S.
Cellares joins at least one other cell therapy manufacturer that has cut jobs this year.Germany-based Evotecsaid in March it would cut 800 employees, its second round of layoffs since 2024.