Kite partners with Shoreline on novel allogeneic cell therapies

Gilead Sciences’ (Nasdaq: GILD) Kite subsidiary has announced a strategic partnership with privately held US biotech Shoreline Biosciences to develop novel cell therapies across a variety of cancer targets.

This adds to a research collaboration agreement with Oxford BioTherapeutics (OBT) to develop novel targets in a range of oncology indications that Kite entered into in January this year and comes swiftly after Shoreline’s deal with BeiGene (Nasdaq: BGNE) that included an up-front of $45 million cash for Shoreline.

The collaboration will leverage Shoreline’s deep expertise in induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC) differentiation and genetic reprogramming in combination with Kite’s extensive cell therapy development, commercialization and manufacturing expertise to develop novel allogeneic candidates for a range of hematologic malignancies. The collaboration will focus initially on chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) natural killer (NK) targets, with Kite having an option to expand the collaboration to include an iPSC CAR Macrophage program for an undisclosed target to be selected post deal execution. This agreement follows Kite’s investment in Shoreline’s recent Series A financing.