The UCLA immuno-oncology specialist has raised the money from a group of private investors.
Kite Pharma, a privately held clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company engaged in the development of novel cancer immunotherapy products spun out from the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA), has raised $50m in a venture round. The money will enable the company to advance its work on new T cell treatments for cancer.
The group of investors includes a number of US outfits who are first-time investors in the company, however, the biotech has not revealed any information on who the investors are. The new funding round takes the companies total funds raised to $85m, as it follows the series A of $35m that the company conducted between March 2011 and May 2013.
Kite’s previous investors in the series A include Alta Partners, Michael Milken, Kite founder and chairman Dr Arie Belldegrun, TPG Group co-founder David Bonderman, Pontifax, and Commercial Street Capital.
Kite is training its focus on hematological and solid tumors, as immunotherapy is becoming one of the industry’s hottest research and development fields. Its lead product is eACT, a broad platform technology encompassing T cells manufactured in the lab, that are genetically re-directed against cancerous cells. The technology essentially turns the body’s own immune system into an effective weapon against cancer.
Dr Arie Belldegrun, Kite’s president and chief executive officer, said: “We are pleased that our current private financing has attracted such a distinguished group of new investors, in addition to the continued support of our existing investors. These commitments will help further accelerate our pipeline programs based on our broadly enabling platform in cancer immunotherapy.”
