Fujifilm to acquire Atara's cell therapy manufacturing facility for $100 million

T-cell immunotherapy developer Atara Biotherapeutics (Nasdaq: ATRA) has entered into a long-term strategic agreement with Fujifilm Diosynth Biotechnologies (FDB), a subsidiary of FUJIFILM Corporation (Fujifilm) under which Fujifilm will acquire Atara’s T-Cell operations and manufacturing (ATOM) facility in Thousand Oaks, California for $100 million upfront, retaining current manufacturing and quality staff at the site.

News of the deal pushed Atara’s shares up 8.8% to $16.59 in after-hours trading on Wednesday. Atara was formed nearly 10 years ago by biotech giant Amgen (Nasdaq: AMGN) and venture capital group Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (KPCB).

The parties will also enter a long-term supply agreement, which could extend to 10 years. Following completion of the transaction, FDB, a leading contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) in advanced therapies, will provide Atara with access to the flexible capacity and specific capability needed to manufacture clinical and commercial-stage allogeneic cell therapies for its maturing and promising pipeline, including tabelecleucel (tab-cel), under regulatory review in Europe for EBV+ PTLD, ATA188 for multiple sclerosis, and allogeneic CAR T therapies, ATA3271 and ATA3219.