Bristol Myers Squibb reported a patient death in an early autoimmune CAR-T trial, citing septic pneumonia after new or worsened neurologic and inflammatory motor symptoms. The company said the patient did not recover after standard autoimmune treatments and subsequently received a potent immunosuppressant, with the fatal outcome following. The disclosure comes amid growing scrutiny of safety events across CAR-T programs directed at autoimmune indications. Bristol’s earlier pause in its program was linked to “transient and reversible inflammatory events,” and Novartis has also disclosed multiple deaths in related autoimmune CAR-T studies. For biotech developers, the episode underscores how quickly inflammation-management protocols and patient-selection criteria are becoming critical variables in next-generation cell therapies for non-malignant targets.