Lyell Immunopharma

ARCH-incubated CAR-T company that raised ~$1.5B. Its own 2018-era programs were dropped, and it now relies on an acquired CD19/CD20 CAR-T headed for a 2027 BLA.

1. Core Product / Service

Lyell was incorporated in Delaware in June 2018 and is headquartered in South San Francisco [1]. It set out to fix T-cell exhaustion in solid tumours using its own platforms. Those early programs (LYL797, LYL845 and others) were discontinued in 2024 [1][4]. Its current pipeline comes from two in-licensed or acquired assets:

Candidate	What it is	Stage
Ronde-cel (LYL314, ex-IMPT-314)	Autologous CD19/CD20 dual-targeting CAR-T for large B-cell lymphoma; came with the ImmPACT Bio acquisition (October 2024)	Pivotal PiNACLE trial (3L+); Phase 3 head-to-head trial in 2L; BLA expected 2027 [2][3]
LYL273 (ex-GCC19CART)	GCC-targeted CAR-T for metastatic colorectal cancer; licensed from ICT in November 2025	Phase 1; 67% response rate at top dose; End-of-Phase-1 meeting slipped to 2027 [2][4]

2. Target Users & Pain Points

Patients: people with relapsed large B-cell lymphoma who need options beyond single-antigen CD19 CAR-T, where relapse often follows antigen loss. Also people with metastatic colorectal cancer, a solid tumour that CAR-T has rarely worked in.
Pain addressed: durability and antigen escape with existing CAR-Ts, and manufacturing slots and turnaround for autologous products.

3. Competitive Landscape

Player	Product	Note
Kite / Gilead	Axi-cel (Yescarta)	Comparator in PiNACLE-H2H [2]
BMS	Liso-cel (Breyanzi)	Comparator in PiNACLE-H2H [2]
sana-biotechnology	In vivo / allogeneic CAR-T	Same 2018 ARCH cohort; opposite choice on manufacturing
ArsenalBio	Logic-gated solid-tumour CAR-T	Same solid-tumour ambition; halted ex vivo clinical work in 2026

4. Unique Observations

Wet lab and manufacturing: the factory outlived the science.
- LyFE in Bothell, WA (~73,000 sq ft of manufacturing suites, labs and offices, leased since 2020) is wholly owned and operated. Lyell says it can make more than 1,200 CAR-T doses a year [1][2].
- In 2025 Lyell closed the West Hills, CA plant it got with ImmPACT (~26,000 sq ft) and moved ronde-cel to LyFE. It moved LYL273 there from ICT in September 2026 [2][4].
- Other leased sites: ~108,000 sq ft in South San Francisco and ~34,000 sq ft in Seattle [1].
- No CDMO is named; contract manufacturers are described only as a possibility [2].
- Headcount was 161 at end-2025, more than 80% in R&D, technical operations and process sciences [1].
The facilities were sized for a bigger company. In 2024 Lyell booked $51.3M of long-lived asset impairments, including $38.7M on leasehold improvements [1]. It sublets roughly a third of its South San Francisco space [1]. PP&E fell to $30.5M net, and capex in 1H 2026 was $0.4M [2].
Capital in vs. value out. Lyell raised about $1.5B gross since inception and has an accumulated deficit of $1.7B [2]. Its market value in September 2026 was only modestly above its $228M of cash.

5. Financials / Funding

Private rounds (2018–2020) [5]:
- Series A: $179.1M
- Series B: $162.1M
- GSK Series AA: $205.0M
- Series C: $493.0M (March 2020)
- Total: about $1.04B in preferred stock
IPO: June 2021, Nasdaq LYEL, 25.0M shares at $17, $425M gross [5][6].
ImmPACT Bio acquisition (October 2024): $30M cash plus stock, with a milestone in shares [3].
Since 2025: a $50M PIPE in July 2025 (ARCH participating), a further ~$50M milestone closing in March 2026, and an ATM program. There was a 1-for-20 reverse split in May 2025 [1][2].
Cumulative: $1.5B gross raised. Cash was $228.0M at 2026-06-30, with runway into Q3 2027 [2].

6. People & Relationships

Founder and chair: Rick Klausner; also a co-founder of altos-labs [1].
CEO: Lynn Seely, MD (since December 2022). CFO/CBO: Smital Shah (since March 2026) [1].
Scientific founders: Stanley Riddell, Crystal Mackall.
Investors and partners: ARCH Venture Partners, GSK, Foresite; ImmPACT Bio (acquired); ICT (licensor) [1][5].

Sources

[1] Lyell Immunopharma, Form 10-K FY2025, SEC EDGAR, filed 2026-03-12 (accessed 2026-10-14)
[2] Lyell Immunopharma, Form 10-Q for Q2 2026, SEC EDGAR, filed 2026-08-06 (accessed 2026-10-14)
[3] Lyell press release on completing the ImmPACT Bio acquisition, October 2024 (accessed 2026-10-14)
[4] Lyell press release on the LYL273 safety profile update, June 2026 (accessed 2026-10-14)
[5] Lyell Immunopharma, IPO prospectus (424B4), SEC EDGAR, 2021-06-21; research notes on US non-AI drug developers founded 2018–2022, 2026-10-14
[6] BioPharma Dive, "Lyell IPO, cell therapy, cancer" (accessed 2026-10-14)