Following a blow to the integrated contract developer and manufacturer’s client base, Cellares continues to move forward with the right-sizing operation its CEO and co-founder unveiled late last month.
With a layoff round already on the docket in California, the automated cell therapy specialist also telegraphed (PDF) 68 cuts in New Jersey, where it hosts its U.S.-based smart factory.
The staff reduction, tied to Cellares’ operations in Bridgewater, were reported a filing with the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development.
"This is a reduction designed to concentrate Cellares’ people and resources behind a growing portfolio of clinical and commercial customer programs," a company spokesperson told Fierce over email. The affected teams are "associated with near-term global expansion efforts as we align our organization with current business priorities."
The cuts there and in California were revealed in short order after Cellares’ helmsman Fabian Gerlinghaus announced on LinkedIn last month that his company had lost a “large pharmaceutical customer,” which the CEO said in turn “requires us to resize the company.”
Together with the cuts in South San Francisco, California, where Cellares is headquartered and hosts its original manufacturing operations, the company has announced 168 layoffs in the U.S.
Meanwhile, Cellares hasn’t said much on the partner who walked away, although multiple sources have since reported that it is Bristol Myers Squibb, which provided early validation for Cellares and its cell therapy manufacturing approach when it struck up a partnership potentially worth $380 million back in 2024.
Speaking to Fierce Wednesday, Cellares' spokesperson said that the company is "not providing additional details regarding individual customer programs or partnerships."
That said, the company clarified that the reduction efforts started and ended on Aug. 21, with the spokesperson noting that "we do not anticipate additional workforce reductions associated with this restructuring."
At the time of Gerlinghaus’ original post, the Cellares CEO stressed that the partnership termination was “specific to” that singular customer.
“Our customers know our technology, they know our teams, and they know what we can deliver,” he said at the time.
Cellares’ cell therapy production approach revolves around its automated manufacturing platform the Cell Shuttle and its companion automation tech for quality control, the Cell Q. The company’s strategy involves setting up multiple shuttles and Cell Q systems in its own facilities and booking manufacturing space from clients, Gerlinghaus told Fierce in an interview earlier this year.
Prior to the recent client-loss headache, Cellares had been on an unbroken winning streak, and its Cell Shuttle last year received a landmark advanced manufacturing technology (AMT) designation from the FDA, both signifying recognition from the regulator and potentially streamlining future interactions with the agency among companies using Cellares’ tech.
Additionally, the company was one of seven selected by the FDA for its PreCheck Pilot Pogram in late June, which is designed to help ease the process of setting up new U.S. manufacturing plants by encouraging earlier agency engagement and more predictable regulatory pathways.
Apart from its operations in California and New Jersey, Cellares in January announced that it had signed a lease to establish a European beachhead and additional manufacturing operations in the Netherlands.
Shortly thereafter, the manufacturing specialist announced the close of a $257 series D funding round, which it said it would use to support the buildout of new facilities in the Netherlands, as well as Japan.
Editor's note: This story has been updated with a statement from a Cellares spokesperson.