Kite to Acquire Tmunity Therapeutics to Pursue Next Gen CAR T-Cell Therapy in Cancer

 Kite Pharma, a Gilead Company (Nasdaq: GILD), and Tmunity Therapeutics (Tmunity), today announced that the companies have signed an agreement in which Kite will acquire Tmunity, a clinical-stage, private biotech company focused on next-generation CAR T-therapies and technologies. The acquisition of Tmunity complements Kite’s existing in-house cell therapy research capabilities by adding additional pipeline assets, platform capabilities, and a strategic research and licensing agreement with the University of Pennsylvania (Penn).

The acquisition will provide Kite with pre-clinical and clinical programs, including an ‘armored’ CAR T technology platform, which potentially could be applied to a variety of CAR T’s to enhance anti-tumor activity, as well as rapid manufacturing processes. Tmunity’s prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) and prostate stem cell antigen (PSCA) assets are not part of the Kite acquisition and will be spun-out by Tmunity as part of the transaction.

As part of the acquisition, Kite will assume responsibility for continuing the research and development collaboration between Tmunity and Penn, also known as the Amended Research License Agreement (ARLA), which includes research funding to Penn along with options and licenses to certain cell engineering and manufacturing technologies invented and developed in certain Penn laboratories. Upon closing, the ARLA will be extended until 2026 with an option to extend further.

“Kite has demonstrated an ability to globally scale cell therapy and address the unique challenges and opportunities that cell therapy represents, which are quite different in material ways than traditional pharmaceutical or biotech approaches,” said Tmunity Founder Carl June, MD, who is also the Richard W. Vague Professor of Immunotherapy in Penn’s Perelman School of Medicine and director of Penn’s Center for Cellular Immunotherapies. “Kite’s singular focus on cell therapy makes them unique and particularly nimble.”

Tmunity was formed in 2015 by some of the early innovators in the cell therapy field, the University of Pennsylvania’s Dr. June, Bruce Levine, PhD, James Riley, PhD and Anne Chew, PhD. The company was formed to rapidly advance early-stage cell therapy research and innovation done in academia into the clinic, to produce new treatments for patients with unmet needs. As part of Kite’s acquisition, the Tmunity founders will become senior scientific advisors for Kite.

https://www.biospace.com/article/releases/kite-to-acquire-tmunity-therapeutics-to-pursue-next-generation-car-t-cell-therapy-advancements-in-cancer/