Kite Pharma Advisors And Scientific Pioneers In Cancer Immunotherapy Receive Prestigious Cellular Immune Therapy Award

SANTA MONICA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Kite Pharma, Inc. (Nasdaq:KITE) today announced that two of its key advisors and scientific collaborators, both pioneers in the field of cancer immunotherapy, have received the renowned Novartis Prize for Clinical Immunology.

“We are proud to partner with Dr. Rosenberg and Professor Eshhar in our ongoing efforts to transform the treatment of cancer.”

The winners were selected by an independent jury of seven world-class immunologists for their groundbreaking research into the biology of the immune system.

Steven A. Rosenberg, M.D., Ph.D., Chief of Surgery at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), and special advisor to Kite, Zelig Eshhar, Ph.D., Professor emeritus from the Weizmann Institute of Science and member of Kite’s scientific advisory board, along with Carl June, M.D. of the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, have been recognized for their work on the pre-clinical and clinical development, as well as the technological application of cellular immune therapy using chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells for diseases such as cancer.

“We want to congratulate these three esteemed visionaries for their contributions in advancing the field of cellular immunotherapy and for bringing us closer to helping patients with no other options achieve responses that may lead to a cure,” said Arie Belldegrun, M.D., FACS, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Kite. “We are proud to partner with Dr. Rosenberg and Professor Eshhar in our ongoing efforts to transform the treatment of cancer.”

The Novartis Prizes for Immunology will be presented at the upcoming 16^th International Congress of Immunology (ICI) in Melbourne, Australia on August 22, 2016. These prizes are awarded every three years for breakthrough contributions to the fields of basic and clinical immunology.

About Kite Pharma

Kite Pharma, Inc., is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company engaged in the development of novel cancer immunotherapy products, with a primary focus on engineered autologous cell therapy (eACT™) designed to restore the immune system's ability to recognize and eradicate tumors. Kite is based in Santa Monica, CA. For more information on Kite Pharma, please visit www.kitepharma.com. Sign up to follow @KitePharma on Twitter at www.twitter.com/kitepharma.