Atara Biotherapeutics, Inc. has entered into a long term strategic agreement with FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies (FDB), a subsidiary of Japan-based FUJIFILM Corporation 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.

The parties will also enter a long-term supply agreement, which could extend to ten 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.

FDB will also expand use of the Thousand Oaks site and leverage its talented staff to manufacture a broader portfolio of cell therapies. Atara will retain its expertise, staff, and capabilities in manufacturing process science to continue to innovate in initial manufacturing and scale up for allogeneic cell therapies.