Kite to Bolster Cell Therapy Capabilities through Acquisition of Carl June’s Tmunity Therapeutics
Kite Pharma will acquire Philadelphia-based Tmunity Therapeutics to strengthen its cell therapy capabilities.
A Gilead Sciences company, Kite announced Tmunity’s next-generation CAR-T therapies and technology will complement its own cell therapy research capabilities. Kite’s acquisition of Tmunity, founded by Carl June, creates a strong bridge between the BioHealth Capital Region, where Kite maintains its manufacturing capabilities in Frederick, and the Greater Philadelphia biohub.
Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2023.
The acquisition brings multiple clinical and preclinical programs into Kite’s pipeline. Among the assets is Tmunity’s “armored” CAR-T technology platform. Kite believes this technology can provide CAR-Ts with the capability to enhance anti-tumor activity. The company announced the platform can also improve manufacturing.
Beyond the pipeline assets, Tmunity’s founders, including June, Bruce Levine, James Riley and Anne Chew, all innovators in the cell therapy field, will become senior scientific advisors for Kite.
June, who leads a cell and gene therapy research team at the University of Pennsylvania, touted the merger and said Kite is a perfect partner for Tmunity. He said Kite has shown an ability to address challenges associated with cell therapies. June also noted Kite has demonstrated capabilities in scaling its cell therapy platform across the globe in order to bring CAR-T treatments to patients.
“Kite’s singular focus on cell therapy makes them unique and particularly nimble,” June said in a brief statement.
Under terms of the acquisition, Kite assumes oversight of the research and development collaboration between Tmunity and the University of Pennsylvania. Tmunity has licensed four clinical stage solid tumor CAR-T programs created at Penn. The company is also supporting further development of several more pipeline candidates through sponsored research agreements with the vaunted Gene Therapy Program (GTP) at University of Pennsylvania.
Last year, Tmunity expanded its collaboration with the university. That brought additional access to certain platform and manufacturing technologies, as well as a Phase I stage Mesothelin CAR T-cell therapy product that is under development for multiple solid tumors, including pancreatic, ovarian and lung cancer.
When the acquisition of Tmunity is complete, the partnership with Penn will be extended until 2026 with an option to extend further.
For Kite, the acquisition of Tmunity comes weeks after the company forged a collaboration with California-based Arcellx Inc. to co-develop that company’s lead product candidate, CART-ddBCMA. The Phase II Arcellx asset is in development for the treatment of patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma. CART-ddBCMA is an investigational autologous T cell therapy that harnesses Arcellx’s novel D-Domain binder. Kite and Arcellx will jointly advance the CART-ddBMCA asset.
Kite Chief Executive Officer Christ Shaw touted the merger with the Tmunity team.
“The Kite team is thrilled to be joining forces with the researchers at Tmunity who are rapidly advancing cell therapy research from the labs into the clinic through their unique partnership with the University of Pennsylvania,” Shaw said in a statement. “Together, we bring a deep understanding of cell therapy as an effective platform, and combined with Kite’s industry-leading global scale, we collectively have a singular focus: to use cell therapy to develop potential cures, and to get them to patients as quickly as possible.”
Tmunity’s prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) and prostate stem cell antigen (PSCA) assets are not part of the Kite acquisition. Those are expected to be spun out by Tmunity as part of the transaction, the company noted in its announcement.
- About the Author
- Latest Posts
Alex Keown is a freelance journalist who writes about a variety of subjects including the pharma, biotech, and life science industries. Prior to freelancing, Alex has served as a staff writer and editor for several publications.
