Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS) has bought Orbital Therapeutics, a US biotech company, for $1.5 billion. This deal is mainly about getting Orbital’s experimental treatment, OTX-201, which is being developed to help people with autoimmune diseases. OTX-201 is a type of therapy called CAR T, which uses the body’s own immune cells to fight disease. This particular treatment is still in early stages of development. Robert Plenge, the Chief Research Officer at BMS, said that this new approach could change how we treat autoimmune diseases. He also mentioned that this acquisition will strengthen BMS’s work in cell therapy and could lead to a better treatment that can reset the immune system. Orbital’s approach is different because it uses the patient’s own body to make the CAR T-cells, which could make the treatment easier and more accessible. BMS is also getting Orbital’s technology platform, which uses RNA to create therapies for many different diseases. Lynelle Hoch, President of BMS’s Cell Therapy Organization, said that this acquisition could make CAR T-cell therapy more efficient and available to more patients. BMS already has two approved cell therapies: Breyanzi for lymphoma and Abecma for myeloma. This deal comes at a time when the cell therapy field is seeing both setbacks and advancements from other companies.