Bristol Myers Squibb said Friday that it would buy private startup Orbital Therapeutics for $1.5 billion in cash, the latest move in a brewing race to develop safer and more scalable cell therapies for cancer and autoimmune disorders.

Orbital is developing so-called in vivo CAR-T treatments. Today’s approved CAR-T therapies are effective at treating certain blood cancers, but are complicated to produce and taxing for patients: Their immune cells have to be collected, sent to a facility to be re-engineered to target cancer, and then sent back for infusion. Large doses of chemotherapy are given along the way.

In vivo treatments would be given with a simple IV infusion, no costly manufacturing or high-dose chemotherapy involved.

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