Gilead Sciences: New data presentations from preclinical studies related to KITE-585

Kite Presents Promising Preclinical Data from KITE-585, a Fully Human Anti-BCMA CAR T-Cell Product Candidate at the 2017 American Association of Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting
  • Proprietary Linker and CD28 Costimulatory Domain for Polyfunctional T cell Activation without Tonic Signaling
  • Phase 1 Clinical Study of KITE-585 in Patients with Multiple Myeloma Planned for 2017
Kite Pharma, Inc. announced new data presentations from preclinical studies related to KITE-585, a fully human anti-B cell maturation antigen (BCMA) chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell product candidate for the treatment of multiple myeloma (MM) at the American Association of Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting in Washington D.C.

In today’s oral presentation (Abstract #4979), “Development of KITE-585: A fully human anti-BCMA CAR T-cell therapy for the treatment of multiple myeloma,” KITE-585 demonstrated potent in vitro and in vivo activity against MM cell lines. CAR T cells were active in the presence of soluble BCMA and also eradicated established MM tumors in mice. KITE-585 contains a proprietary linker with the CD28 costimulatory domain. This configuration resulted in polyfunctional activation and proliferation of T-cells in the presence of MM cell lines, with no evidence of tonic signaling in the absence of target cells.

In the poster presentation (Abstract #2135), “Selectivity and specificity of engineered T cells expressing KITE-585, a chimeric antigen receptor targeting B-cell maturation antigen (BCMA),” the selectivity of KITE-585’s novel single-chain variable fragment (scFv) for BCMA was assessed using Retrogenix™ cell microarray technology. The results demonstrated the specificity of KITE-585 for BCMA expressing target cells.

“These promising preclinical data presented at AACR suggest the potential of KITE-585 to offer a one-time treatment to address the high unmet need in multiple myeloma, an incurable blood cancer,” said David Chang, M.D., Ph.D., Executive Vice President, Research and Development, and Chief Medical Officer. “The roadmap developed for the clinical development and manufacturing expertise of axicabtagene ciloleucel will be invaluable as we accelerate KITE-585 into the clinic later this year.”

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