SANTA MONICA, Calif. & MENLO PARK, Calif.– Kite, a Gilead Company (Nasdaq: GILD) and Refuge Biotechnologies, Inc. (“Refuge”), today announced that Kite has entered into an exclusive, worldwide license agreement with Refuge, a synthetic biology company for cancer immunotherapy, for exclusive rights to utilize Refuge’s proprietary gene expression platform to develop potential treatments for blood cancers.
Refuge’s proprietary platform is a synthetic biology system that utilizes an expression modulation strategy to repress or activate transcription of target genes. Early pre-clinical data suggest a potential for this highly modular platform to regulate target antigen-dependent gene expression as a means to improve upon both the efficacy and safety of first-generation CAR T-cell therapies. Kite will have an exclusive license to Refuge’s intellectual property portfolio for use in blood cancers, as well as a library of synthetic gene expression programs for these indications. Refuge will retain all rights and programs related to solid tumor indications.
“First-generation autologous CAR T-cell therapies have dramatically changed outcomes for people with certain blood cancers yet more work needs to be done to reach additional patients. As the global CAR T-cell therapy leader, Kite is working on the next generation of cell therapies with the goal to improve upon the great results we have today so more patients can benefit,” said Francesco Marincola, MD, Global Head of Cell Therapy Research, Kite. “Through this exclusive license agreement with Refuge’s platform, coupled with our unique in-house research capabilities, we aim to create a new generation of CAR T-cell products to induce long-term remissions for more patients.”
“As a leader in the advancement of cell therapy from research to life-changing therapeutics, Kite is an ideal partner for Refuge as we seek to further evaluate the promise of Refuge’s proprietary platform,” said Jing Zhao, Chief Business Officer, Refuge. “We look forward to collaborating closely with Kite in this area, while continuing to advance our internal therapeutic research and programs focused on solid tumors.”
Under the terms of the agreement, Kite will be responsible for all costs and activities related to research, development, manufacturing and commercialization. Kite will also make an upfront payment to Refuge and Refuge will be eligible to receive potential performance-based regulatory milestone payments.
