Cellares, an innovator in cell therapy manufacturing, has successfully closed a $257 million Series D financing round, bringing its total capital raised to $612 million. Co-led by BlackRock and Eclipse, this substantial investment is earmarked for a global expansion of its automated manufacturing facilities. The funding aims to industrialize cell therapy production, making these advanced treatments accessible to hundreds of thousands of patients annually.
A Landmark Investment for Global Expansion
The financing round attracted a distinguished group of new global investors, including T. Rowe Price, Baillie Gifford, and Gates Frontier, among others. This infusion of capital, supported by continued participation from existing backers like DFJ Growth, underscores strong market confidence in Cellares's vision. The company is now well-capitalized to execute its ambitious growth strategy and solidify its market leadership.
These funds will directly finance the construction of state-of-the-art IDMO Smart Factories in key global hubs, including Leiden, the Netherlands, and Kashiwa City, Japan. These new sites will join existing facilities in South San Francisco, California, and a commercial-ready factory in Bridgewater, New Jersey. This strategic network is designed to create a robust, global supply chain for cell therapies.
Revolutionizing Cell Therapy Manufacturing
Cellares aims to solve a critical industry bottleneck, which its CEO Fabian Gerlinghaus describes as "industrial, not scientific." The company's Integrated Development and Manufacturing Organization (IDMO) model replaces traditional, labor-intensive processes with a fully automated, high-throughput approach. This shift is essential for scaling production to meet the growing demand for life-saving treatments.
At the core of its operations are the proprietary Cell Shuttle™ and Cell Q™ platforms, which provide end-to-end automated manufacturing and quality control. These integrated systems deliver a nearly tenfold increase in throughput compared to conventional facilities of a similar size. Consequently, Cellares can significantly lower per-patient costs while improving manufacturing consistency and success rates.
Strategic Partnerships and Regulatory Validation
The commercial viability of Cellares's platform is validated by a major $380 million global manufacturing agreement with Bristol Myers Squibb. This partnership reserves commercial-scale capacity for producing key CAR-T therapies, including Breyanzi and Abecma, across its international network. The deal highlights the significant demand from leading pharmaceutical companies for scalable manufacturing solutions.
Further bolstering its credibility, the company's Cell Shuttle™ system has received the Advanced Manufacturing Technology (AMT) designation from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. This recognition can help expedite the regulatory review process for therapies produced using the platform. It serves as a powerful endorsement of the technology's quality, safety, and reliability for commercial use.
Investor Confidence and Future Outlook
Investors have voiced strong support for the company's mission, with BlackRock's Andrew Farris calling Cellares the "high-tech, industrial backbone required for cell therapy to scale globally." Similarly, Joe Fath of Eclipse highlighted how the company's automation overcomes the constraints of "artisanal, manual processes" that have long hindered the field. This consensus reflects a belief in Cellares's category-defining potential.
Looking ahead, Cellares is on a clear trajectory to begin supporting clinical manufacturing in the first half of 2026, with commercial-scale operations commencing in 2027. CEO Fabian Gerlinghaus stated that this financing places the company on a "disciplined path toward becoming a public company." This forward guidance signals a new phase of maturity and commercial readiness for the organization.
This $257 million financing round marks a pivotal moment for Cellares and the broader cell therapy industry, signaling a definitive shift toward industrialized manufacturing. By building a global network of automated Smart Factories, the company is poised to eliminate critical production bottlenecks and enhance patient access. This strategic investment solidifies Cellares's position as a key enabler of next-generation medicine on a global scale.