Novartis and Bristol Myers Squibb paused autoimmune CAR-T programs after reports of serious adverse events and immune-related safety concerns. Fierce reported Novartis halted rap-cel trials across multiple autoimmune indications and that Bristol Myers voluntarily paused its zola-cel program as the companies review safety outcomes. The pauses add to a growing pattern in cell therapy development where autoimmune expansion and immune reset strategies face heightened scrutiny for safety signals, particularly when cytokine-mediated toxicities emerge. For the field, the actions highlight how rapidly the CAR-T competitive landscape can shift when program-level risk management requires temporary holds pending deeper safety evaluation.