Kite Pharma and bluebird bio join forces on HPV-associated cancer

22 June 2015

USA-based oncology specialist Kite Pharma (Nasdaq: KITE) and clinical-stage biotech firm bluebird bio (Nasdaq: BLUE) have entered into a collaboration agreement to co-develop and co-commercialize second generation T cell receptor (TCR) product candidates directed against the human papillomavirus type 16 E6 (HPV-16 E6) oncoprotein incorporating gene editing and lentiviral technologies.

bluebird bio has a platform comprised of lentiviral gene delivery and gene editing capabilities, with a focus on rare diseases and cancer immunotherapies. Kite has a broad existing pipeline of TCR product candidates and will continue to develop its existing and wholly-owned TCR programs directed against high-risk HPV, which are unaffected by this collaboration, including HPV-16 E6 TCR, currently in a Phase I study, and HPV-16 E7 TCR. The collaboration brings together the powerful technologies and capabilities of these two leading immunotherapy companies.

Terms of the collaboration

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