Kite Pharma Expands Manufacturing for T-Cell Therapies

Kite Pharma, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing engineered autologous T-cell therapy (eACT) products for the treatment of cancer, announced on Feb. 19, 2015 that it entered into a lease agreement for a commercial manufacturing facility in El Segundo, California, which is adjacent to Los Angeles International Airport. Kite also recently secured a lease for a clinical manufacturing facility in Santa Monica, California. The two facilities will support the planned clinical trials of Kite's product candidates and will prepare Kite for the commercial launch and supply of its lead product candidate, KTE-C19, anticipated in 2017.

"We are committed to the rapid advancement of KTE-C19, which has the potential to address the significant, unmet needs of patients with aggressive, refractory B cell lymphomas and leukemias," said Arie Belldegrun, Kite Pharma's president and CEO, in a press release. "We are initiating pivotal studies for KTE-C19 in multiple indications and believe our new facilities will help ensure the timely completion of these studies as well as our commercial launch. We also expect the facilities to support clinical trials and potential commercialization of our other eACT-based product candidates, including both chimeric antigen receptor and T-cell receptor-based product candidates."

The Santa Monica facility has approximately 18,000 ft² and will provide space for clinical manufacturing, research and development, and offices upon completion. In addition, Kite plans to continue to use its contract manufacturer to support clinical trials of eACT-based product candidates.

The El Segundo facility has approximately 44,500 ft², with an expansion option for an additional 17,000 ft². Kite anticipates the El Segundo facility will be operational to support the planned commercial launch of KTE-C19 in 2017.

Source: Kite Pharma