Gilead’s Kite Pharma to have its own business unit

Gilead Sciences has announced its intention to separate its Kite cell therapy business into its own unit, and says the appointment of a chief executive officer will be made in due course. Kite Pharma is mostly known for its CAR-T cell therapy Yescarta, approved for some types of lymphoma. First quarter sales for 2019 of $96m was less than anticipated. Separating the business unit will facilitate Gilead focussing on its other oncology programmes like internal small-molecule R&D and a bispecific antibody collaboration with Agenus.
Daniel O’Day, CEO of Gilead, said: “Kite itself in cell therapy oncology is in an ultracompetitive area. We have a leadership position, but I think we need to maintain that, and for the reasons of focus, we decided to create Kite as an independent business unit that will wake up and go to sleep every day thinking about how to be leaders in oncology cell therapy.” He suggested further changes could be on the horizon following meeting that he said are intended to “shape our long-term strategy and vision for the future of Gilead.”