BMS discloses septic pneumonia death of multiple sclerosis patient in CAR-T trial
- A multiple sclerosis patient in a Bristol Myers Squibb autoimmune CAR-T study died of septic pneumonia, the company disclosed.
- The disclosure came before a Phase 1 Breakfree-2 data presentation at the ACTRIMS-ECTRIMS meeting.
- It follows BMS's late-summer pause of certain trials of zolacabtagene autoleucel.
💡 Points
Two safety events in roughly two months is a pattern investors and regulators will not ignore: a pause in late summer, now a patient death in MS. Moving CAR-T from oncology into autoimmune disease means asking patients with manageable conditions to accept lymphodepletion risk, so the tolerability bar is far higher. Details are thin, but BMS's disclosure ahead of the Breakfree-2 data looks like deliberate risk management.
BMS reveals death from septic pneumonia of multiple sclerosis patient in CAR T trial ↗