Piper Sandler analyst Tyler Van Buren says Agios Pharmaceuticals remains one of his favorite names for 2020 following the company's Q4 results. Tibsovo sales steadily increased quarter-over-quarter and management is confident in the Tibsovo Marketing Authorization Application data package, despite the recent withdrawal of Idhifa, Van Buren tells investors in a research note. He continues to believe that Agios could reacquire rights to Idhifa from Bristol-Myers (BMY) in the near-term, which he says would be "significantly value-creating." Further, the analyst thinks "significant value" is yet to be created with mitapivat and notes that positive AG-636 data could lead to "another meaningful hemeonc opportunity." Van Buren reiteates an Overweight rating on Agios Pharmaceuticals with a $70 price target.

Bristol Myers Squibb and Cellares, a development and manufacturing organization dedicated to clinical and industrial-scale cell therapy manufacturing, announced a worldwide capacity reservation and supply agreement for the manufacture of CAR T cell therapies in a transaction valued up to $380M in upfront and milestone payments. As part of the agreement, Cellares will optimize, automate, and tech-transfer select Bristol Myers Squibb CAR T cell therapies onto its automated and high-throughput manufacturing platform, the Cell Shuttle. Cellares will dedicate multiple Cell Shuttle and Cell Q systems with fully automated, high-throughput quality control for Bristol Myers Squibb's exclusive use. The Cell Shuttles and Cell Qs will be deployed in Cellares' Smart Factories in the U.S., EU, and Japan. This agreement expands upon the existing collaborations between Bristol Myers Squibb and Cellares. In August 2023, Bristol Myers Squibb participated in Cellares' Series C financing to launch the first IDMO Smart Factory in an effort to meet the demand for cell therapies globally. That same month, Bristol Myers Squibb joined Cellares' Technology Adoption Partnership Program to evaluate the Cell Shuttle's automated manufacturing capabilities.