Kite Pharma

Kite Pharma, Inc.
Publicly traded company
Traded as NASDAQ: KITE
Industry Biopharmaceutical
Founded 2009
Founder Arie Belldegrun
Headquarters Santa Monica, California
Key people
 Arie Belldegrun (Chairman, President and CEO)
Cynthia Butitta (COO and CFO)
David Chang (CMO)
Margo Roberts (CSO)[1]
Products Cancer immunotherapy
Website www.kitepharma.com

Kite Pharma is a publicly held, clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company engaged in the development of novel cancer immunotherapy products with a primary focus on engineered autologous T cell therapy (eACT™) designed to restore the immune system's ability to recognize and eradicate tumors.[2]

The Santa Monica, California-based company was founded in 2009 by Arie Belldegrun, M.D., FACS, an Israeli-American oncologist, who serves as the company's chairman, president and chief executive officer.[1]

In October 2012, Kite Pharma entered into a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) with the National Cancer Institute (NCI) for the development and commercialization of eACT™ products for the treatment of multiple cancer indications.[3]

In December 2013, the company announced data in its lead clinical development program with the NCI, demonstrating that Kite’s most advanced immunotherapy product candidate – KTE-C19 CAR – can produce robust and durable tumor shrinkage in patients with an aggressive form of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, known as diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL).[4] The clinical data were presented at the 55th American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting.[5]

In March 2014, the company announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Office of Orphan Products Development granted orphan drug designation for the company's proposed therapy for DLBCL.[6]

In June 2014, Kite Pharma entered into an exclusive, worldwide license with the NIH to certain intellectual property related to TCR-based product candidates that target the NY-ESO-1 antigen for the treatment of cancers expressing NY-ESO-1.[7]

In August 2014, Kite Pharma announced findings from its ongoing clinical trial: 12 of 13 evaluable patients with advanced B-cell malignancies had complete remissions (8 patients) or partial remissions (4 patients) resulting in a 92% objective response rate. The results support Kite Pharma's plan to file an Investigational New Drug (IND) application in the fourth quarter of 2014 to initiate a clinical trial of Kite Pharma's lead CAR-based product candidate, KTE-C19, in patients with DLBCL.[8]

In January 2015, Kite Pharma and Amgen entered into a strategic research collaboration and license agreement to develop and commercialize the next generation of novel Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR) T cell immunotherapies based on Kite's engineered autologous cell therapy (eACT™) platform and Amgen's extensive array of cancer targets.[9][10]

Business history

In March 2011, Kite Pharma received $15 million in Series A venture cash.[11]

In May 2013, Kite Pharma completed a $35 million financing of Series A preferred stock.[12][13][14]

In April 2014, Kite Pharma completed a $50 million mezzanine private financing of convertible notes.[15][16]

In May 2014, Kite Pharma filed a registration with the SEC for an initial public offering (IPO) of its common stock.[17]

In June 2014, Kite Pharma sold 8,625,000 shares in their IPO at $17.00 per share, for net proceeds of $134.1 million.[18][19][20] The company listed on the NASDAQ Global market under the symbol “KITE.”

In December 2014, Kite Pharma sold 3,485,000 shares in their follow-on offering at $54 per share.[21]

In March 2015, Kite Pharma acquired T-Cell Factory, a privately held biotechnology company based in the Netherlands, for $21 million and renamed it – Kite Pharma EU. Per the deal, Kite Pharma has obtained license agreements with IBA GmbH, Sanquin Blood Supply Foundation and the Netherlands Cancer Institute (NKI), which include the rights to select new intellectual property related to T-cell receptors (TCRs) developed at the NKI. Additionally, the TCF acquisition will allow Kite Pharma to access the European manufacturing facilities, paving way for the company to initiate development programs in the EU and build its presence in the region.[22][23]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Senior Management Team". Kite Pharma. Retrieved 19 May 2014.
  2. ↑ "About Kite Pharma". Kite Pharma. Retrieved 21 January 2015.
  3. ↑ "Kite Pharma Partners with the National Cancer Institute to Develop Novel Cellular Immunotherapy Clinical Products". Kite Pharma . 16 October 2012. Retrieved 15 August 2014.
  4. ↑ “Kite Pharma's Lead Program with the National Cancer Institute (NCI) Demonstrates Positive Results in Patients with Aggressive Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma”. Kite Pharma . 7 December 2013. Retrieved 15 August 2014.
  5. ↑ “Donor-derived allogeneic T cells may cause regression of B-cell malignancies”. HemOnc Today . 7 December 2013. Retrieved 15 August 2014.
  6. ↑ [ http://www.kitepharma.com/c/news/releases/033114.php “Kite Pharma Announces FDA Orphan Drug Designation for Anti-CD19 T Cell Cancer Immunotherapy Product"]. Kite Pharma . 31 March 2014. Retrieved 19 May 2014.
  7. ↑ “Kite Pharma Announces Exclusive License with The National Institutes of Health for T Cell Receptor (TCR)-Based Products Targeting NY-ESO-1 For Multiple Cancer Indications".Kite Pharma. 6 June 2014. Retrieved 8 June 2014.
  8. ↑ Ro, Sam (26 August 2014). "Biotech Stock Kite Pharma Explodes Higher After Good News About Its Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma Drug". Business Insider. Retrieved 27 August 2014.
  9. ↑ "". Reuters. 5 January 2015. Retrieved 21 January 2015.
  10. ↑ "Amgen and Kite Pharma Announce Strategic Cancer Immunotherapy Collaboration to Advance the Application of Novel Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR) T Cell Therapies". Kite Pharma. 5 January 2015. Retrieved 21 January 2015.
  11. ↑ “Kite Pharma Raises $15 Million in Initial Round of Financing and Appoints David Bonderman to Board of Directors”. Kite Pharma . 9 March 2011. Retrieved 29 July 2014.
  12. ↑ “Kite Pharma Completes $35 Million Series A Preferred Stock Financing”. Kite Pharma . 15 May 2013. Retrieved 15 August 2014.
  13. ↑ Orbach, Meir (18 May 2014). "טיפול לסרטן שפותח ברחובות נמצא בדרך לנאסד"ק" (In Hebrew). Calcalist (Tel Aviv). Retrieved 19 May 2014.
  14. ↑ McBride, Ryan (15 May 2013). "UPDATED: Billionaires back Kite Pharma in $20M raise for cancer immunotherapies". FierceBiotech. Retrieved 19 May 2014.
  15. ↑ " Kite Pharma, Inc. Completes $50 Million Mezzanine Private Financing". Kite Pharma. 28 April 2014. Retrieved 19 May 2014.
  16. ↑ Carroll, John (28 April 2014). "Immuno-oncology specialist Kite adds $50M in new financing". FierceBiotech. Retrieved 19 May 2014.
  17. ↑ “Kite Pharma Files Registration Statement for Proposed Initial Public Offering”. Kite Pharma. 19 May 2014. Retrieved 19 May 2014.
  18. ↑ “Kite Pharma Announces Pricing of Initial Public Offering”. Kite Pharma. 20 June 2014. Retrieved 15 August 2014.
  19. ↑ Calia, Michael (20 June 2014). "Kite Pharma Soars Above IPO Price on First Day of Trading". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 21 June 2014.
  20. ↑ “Kite Pharma Announces Full Exercise of Underwriters' Option to Purchase Additional Shares”. Kite Pharma. 23 June 2014. Retrieved 15 August 2014.
  21. ↑ "Kite Pharma Announces Pricing of Follow-On Offering". Yahoo! Finance. 10 December 2014. Retrieved 12 December 2014.
  22. ↑ "Kite Pharma Acquires T-Cell Factory for $21M Up Front". Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News. 18 March 2015. Retrieved 18 March 2015.
  23. ↑ Zacks.com (18 March 2015)."Kite Pharma (KITE) Acquires T-Cell Factory, Focus on Europe - Analyst Blog". NASDAQ. Retrieved 18 March 2015.

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