Immatics Testing Cellular Origins’ Automated Cell Therapy Manufacturing Platform for Immuno-Oncology Programs

Key Points

• Cellular Origins has partnered with Immatics to test the Constellation automation platform in selected manufacturing steps for cancer cell therapies.
• The collaboration focuses on improving manufacturing consistency, efficiency, and scalability as Immatics advances its next-generation immuno-oncology programs.
• Initial phase expected to be completed in 2026.

Immatics, a cell therapy developer with several oncology therapies in the pipeline, is partnering with Cellular Origins to evaluate whether its Constellation automation platform could improve process consistency and prepare for large-scale production.

The program is structured in phases with defined milestones, and the initial phase is expected to conclude in 2026.

Immatics’ Oncology Pipeline

Immatics is developing cancer cell therapies, with several focused on the Preferentially Expressed Antigen in Melanoma (PRAME) protein.

PRAME is a cancer-testis antigen highly expressed in various malignancies, including melanoma, breast, ovarian, and lung cancers, but is limited in normal tissues, making it a promising target for T cell therapies.

The company is currently running a Phase 3 trial, IMA203-301 (SUPRAME), with estimated results for 2028 according to the clinical trials page.

Cellular Origins’ Constellation Platform

Cell therapy manufacturing is labor-intensive, costly, and error-prone, and many companies are increasingly turning to automation to mitigate issues with variability, throughput, and operational complexity.

One automation platform, Constellation by Cellular Origins, is a mobile robotics ecosystem to scale up cell therapy production.

Constellation’s robots transport consumables and reagents between workstations and perform kit set-up and sterile transfer. Each workstation performs closed process steps, while a unified digital layer connects everything, ensuring full integration, consistency, and control. 

“Immatics has generated extensive data demonstrating the potential of precision targeting PRAME, a target expressed in more than 50 cancers,” said Ali Mohamed, SVP, of CMC, Immatics. “As we continue to advance our programs, it is important that we also develop manufacturing capabilities that can support future scale. We are pleased to collaborate with Cellular Origins to explore how the Constellation platform and our integrated manufacturing processes could support the scalable production of our therapies as we move toward potential approvals.”

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