Cell Therapy Providers Shift Toward Community Hospitals

Iovance Biotherapeutics (IOVA) and Autolus Therapeutics (AUTL) both said on their third-quarter 2026 earnings calls in November that most new cell therapy treatment centers are now community hospitals and new programs outside the large academic system, and that new centers are taking less time to go from signing to treating their first patient [1][2].

Why cell therapy networks run out of academic centers

Autologous cell therapies can only be given at treatment centers the manufacturer has certified. Each treatment starts by collecting a patient's immune cells, which are shipped to a plant to be expanded or engineered and then infused back into the same patient. Iovance sells Amtagvi, a TIL therapy that expands immune cells taken from the patient's tumor tissue. Autolus sells Aucatzyl, a CAR-T therapy that engineers the patient's T cells to recognize cancer cells, used in acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL).

At launch, manufacturers sign the large academic transplant centers first, because their physicians and processes know these treatments best. Autolus's CEO said the roughly 80 largest US centers give access to about 80% of patients [2]. Once those centers are signed, further reach has to come from hospitals outside the academic system, which is why two companies with different products and manufacturing chains have run into the same question.

Community hospitals and new programs drive center growth

Most of the authorized treatment centers Iovance onboarded in the third quarter were community based, and community centers now make up over a third of its network of more than 100 centers [1]. On its second-quarter call, the share was "a third," and the company expected it to rise significantly over the following quarters [3]. Iovance also said the time from authorization to first patient treatment continues to shorten, and it reported third-quarter Amtagvi sales of about $102 million, up 77% year over year [1].

Autolus set out to activate 80 US centers in 2026, reached that target in the third quarter and now has 90 [2]. The company said many younger CAR-T physicians are leaving academic hospitals to set up programs at new centers, and Autolus plans to follow them there. A few of these centers have a flow of ALL patients that normal market research would not have predicted [2]. Autolus reported third-quarter net product revenue of $41.2 million, up 95% year over year [2]. Neither company breaks out revenue or patients by type of center, so the material cannot say how much of this growth comes from community and newly built centers.

Treatment moves closer to patients, and cell handling may move out

As treatment spreads into community hospitals, manufacturers compete on how quickly they can bring hospitals closer to patients up to volume. Iovance said in the second quarter that more than 95% of patients live within 200 miles of an authorized center [3]. Community hospitals usually cannot cryopreserve or process cells on site, so that work may shift to outside service providers.

Only two manufacturers support this reading so far, and Iovance itself said its business is still concentrated in established centers [1]. Large drugmakers are taking a different route. Gilead Sciences (GILD) said its Kite unit plans to launch the new therapy anito-cel by activating 80% of its existing treatment center network, and expects its cell therapy sales to fall by a mid-teens percentage year over year [4]. Legend Biotech (LEGN) said European referrals still go to large academic centers [5]. Metrics to track are whether Iovance's community share keeps rising and whether Autolus's new centers produce steady patient volume.

Companies exposed to the shift

• Allogene Therapeutics (ALLO): It is developing cema-cel, an off-the-shelf CAR-T therapy that does not require collecting cells from the patient first. Its ALPHA3 Phase 3 trial has dosed patients at sites with no prior CAR-T experience, and management said interest from community practices surged over the summer. The product is still in trials, so whether it can grow through the community channel remains unproven [6].
• Cryoport (CYRX): It provides cold-chain shipping and cryopreservation services for cell and gene therapies, and may take on more of this work when community centers cannot process cells on site. The company said its commercial cell and gene therapy services revenue grew 26% year over year in the second quarter, in part because more patients are being treated in community and outpatient settings [7]. That business is only about 20% of its total revenue [8].

Sources

[1] Drillr · Iovance Biotherapeutics (IOVA) · 2026-11-05 · Q3 2026 earnings call

Most of the centers we onboarded in Q3 were community based, and community ATCs represent over a third of our network. New centers are also getting started faster as the time between authorization and first patient treatment continues to shorten.

[2] Drillr · Autolus Therapeutics (AUTL) · 2026-11-10 · Q3 2026 earnings call

[3] Drillr · Iovance Biotherapeutics (IOVA) · 2026-08-06 · Q2 2026 earnings call

[4] Drillr · Gilead Sciences (GILD) · 2026-10-29 · Q3 2026 earnings call

[5] Drillr · Legend Biotech (LEGN) · 2026-11-10 · Q3 2026 earnings call

[6] Drillr · Allogene Therapeutics (ALLO) · 2026-11-05 · Q3 2026 earnings call

[7] Drillr · Cryoport (CYRX) · 2026-08-06 · Q2 2026 earnings call

[8] Drillr · Cryoport (CYRX) · 2026-11-05 · Q3 2026 earnings call

This article only highlights industry changes and companies that may be overlooked. It is not a stock recommendation.