Patient dies in Bristol Myers Squibb autoimmune CAR-T trial

· Health · United States

A patient has died in a Bristol Myers Squibb study of CAR-T therapy for an autoimmune condition, the company disclosed, the same technology that was called into question this summer when both Bristol Myers and Novartis paused similar programs over a safety signal. Bristol Myers says it has identified the cause of the safety signal seen in a lupus trial and has an answer for it. The death sharpens a debate over how high the safety bar should be for CAR-T studies in autoimmune diseases, where patients are not facing terminal illness as they are in cancer trials. Lynelle Hoch of Bristol Myers discussed the autoimmune CAR-T safety challenges in a separate interview.

Why it matters：CAR-T's push into autoimmune disease depends on a safety profile tolerable for non-terminal patients; a death could slow the field's fastest-growing frontier and invite tighter trial oversight.

Key points

  • The death occurred in a study of CAR-T for an autoimmune condition.
  • Bristol Myers and Novartis paused similar programs this summer over a safety signal.
  • The company says it has found the cause of the lupus-trial signal.

Sources (original reporting)

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