Updated version 1-Bristol Myers Squibb discloses patient death cases in early cell therapy research

Additional details provided in paragraphs 3 to 6

Reuters, October 23 - Bristol Myers Squibb (BMY.N) disclosed on Friday that a patient died in an early-stage clinical trial of its experimental CAR-T cell therapy.

The pharmaceutical company's shares fell 2.5% in early trading.

The company stated that a patient with highly active relapsing multiple sclerosis, a central nervous system autoimmune disorder, died from septic pneumonia.

The company said the patient participated in the clinical trial of Bristol Myers Squibb's experimental cell therapy, zolacabtagene autoleucel (abbreviated as zola-cel).

After receiving high-dose chemotherapy, the patient developed septic pneumonia and died the following day, which was 44 days after receiving the CAR-T infusion. The patient exhibited delayed motor symptoms, and treatment with corticosteroids or intravenous immunoglobulin was ineffective.

In September this year, the company said that, in light of Novartis' (NOVN.S) earlier suspension of eight clinical trials of an experimental cell therapy called "rap-cel," it was reviewing safety data "as a precaution" and had voluntarily paused its research on zola-cel (link).

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