Juno Defeats Kite Pharma’s Challenge To CAR T-Cell Patent

SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Juno Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: JUNO), a biopharmaceutical company developing innovative cellular immunotherapies for the treatment of cancer, today announced that it has defeated an attempt to invalidate a patent exclusively licensed by Juno that covers, among other things, a chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell used for the treatment of B-cell malignancies, and that it is suing Kite Pharma, Inc., seeking a declaratory judgment that Kite’s lead product candidate, KTE-C19, will infringe the patent when commercially produced.

“Our efforts to amicably and reasonably resolve the dispute Kite initiated have been thwarted and today we are taking the next step towards fully resolving matters. Importantly, our filing will not prevent continued patient access while the legal dispute continues.”

In August 2015, Kite Pharma, Inc. filed an inter partes review in the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office in an attempt to invalidate U.S. Patent No. 7,446,190 by challenging all of its claims. Juno exclusively licenses the ’190 patent, titled “Nucleic Acids Encoding Chimeric T Cell Receptors,” from Sloan Kettering Institute for Cancer Research, an affiliate of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. The patent covers, among other things, a construct for a CD-19 targeted CAR T cell treatment that employs a CD28 costimulatory domain.

The U.S. Patent & Trademark Office instituted a review of the patent and on December 16, 2016 issued a final written decision upholding all the claims of the patent.

“We are obviously pleased by the USPTO’s decision to uphold the patent,” said Bernard J. “Barney” Cassidy, General Counsel of Juno Therapeutics. “Our efforts to amicably and reasonably resolve the dispute Kite initiated have been thwarted and today we are taking the next step towards fully resolving matters. Importantly, our filing will not prevent continued patient access while the legal dispute continues.”

The lawsuit is being filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware. Juno and the Sloan Kettering Institute are represented by Irell & Manella LLP in both the IPR and the litigation.

ABOUT JUNO

Juno Therapeutics is building a fully integrated biopharmaceutical company focused on re-engaging the body’s immune system to revolutionize the treatment of cancer. Founded on the vision that the use of human cells as therapeutic entities will drive one of the next important phases in medicine, Juno is developing cell-based cancer immunotherapies based on chimeric antigen receptor and high-affinity T cell receptor technologies to genetically engineer T cells to recognize and kill cancer. Juno is developing multiple cell-based product candidates to treat a variety of B-cell malignancies as well as solid tumors. Several product candidates have shown compelling clinical responses in clinical trials in refractory leukemia and lymphoma conducted to date. Juno’s long-term aim is to leverage its cell-based platform to develop new product candidates that address a broader range of cancers and human diseases. Juno brings together innovative technologies from some of the world’s leading research institutions, including the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Seattle Children’s Research Institute, the University of California, San Francisco, and The National Cancer Institute. Juno Therapeutics has an exclusive license to the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital patented technology for CD19-directed product candidates that use 4-1BB, which was developed by Dario Campana, Chihaya Imai, and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

ABOUT THE JUNO-CELGENE COLLABORATION

Celgene Corporation and Juno Therapeutics formed a collaboration in June 2015 under which the two companies will leverage T cell therapeutic strategies to develop treatments for patients with cancer and autoimmune diseases with an initial focus on chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) and T cell receptor (TCR) technologies. In April 2016, Celgene exercised its option to develop and commercialize the Juno CD19 program outside North America and China.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This press release contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, including statements regarding Juno’s litigation against Kite Pharma, Inc. and allegations made in that litigation, Juno’s mission, progress, and business plans, clinical trial results and the implications thereof, the possibility for combination therapies to potentially increase durable response rates, and clinical trial plans and timing. Forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from such forward-looking statements, and reported results should not be considered as an indication of future performance. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, risks associated with: the success, cost, and timing of Juno’s product development activities and clinical trials; Juno’s ability to obtain regulatory approval for and to commercialize its product candidates; Juno’s ability to establish a commercially-viable manufacturing process and manufacturing infrastructure; regulatory requirements and regulatory developments; success of Juno’s competitors with respect to competing treatments and technologies; Juno’s dependence on third-party collaborators and other contractors in Juno’s research and development activities, including for the conduct of clinical trials and the manufacture of Juno’s product candidates; Juno’s dependence on Celgene for the development and commercialization outside of North America and China of Juno’s CD19 product candidates and any other product candidates for which Celgene exercises an option; Juno’s dependence on JW Therapeutics (Shanghai) Co., Ltd, over which Juno does not exercise complete control, for the development and commercialization of product candidates in China; Juno’s ability to obtain, maintain, or protect intellectual property rights related to its product candidates; amongst others. For a further description of the risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ from those expressed in these forward-looking statements, as well as risks relating to Juno’s business in general, see Juno’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on November 9, 2016 and Juno’s other periodic reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date hereof. Juno disclaims any obligation to update these forward-looking statements.