Gilead Sciences has entered an agreement to acquire Kite Pharma, a cell therapy company headquartered in Santa Monica, CA, for approximately $11.9 billion. The transaction, subject to customary closing conditions, is expected to close 4Q17.

Kite Pharma specializes in cell therapies, which use a patient’s own immune cells to fight cancer. The company has developed engineered cell therapies that express either a chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) or an engineered T cell receptor (TCR). The company’s most advanced candidate, axicabtagene ciloleucel (axi-cel), is a CAR T therapy currently under priority review by the FDA for refractory aggressive non-Hodgkin lymphoma, including diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), transformed follicular lymphoma (TFL) and primary mediastinal B-cell lymphoma (PMBCL). The FDA has set a target action date of November 29, 2017 under the Prescription Drug User Fee Act. A marketing authorization application has also been filed with the European Medicines Agency.

Kite has additional candidates in clinical trials in both hematologic cancers and solid tumors, including KITE-585, a CAR T therapy candidate that targets th B cell maturation antigen (BCMA) expressed in multiple myeloma.

“The acquisition of Kite establishes Gilead as a leader in cellular therapy and provides a foundation from which to drive continued innovation for people with advanced cancers,” said John F. Milligan, Ph.D., Gilead’s president and chief executive officer. “The field of cell therapy has advanced very quickly, to the point where the science and technology have opened a clear path toward a potential cure for patients. We are greatly impressed with the Kite team and what they have accomplished, and share their belief that cell therapy will be the cornerstone of treating cancer. Our similar cultures and histories of driving rapid innovation in order to bring more effective and safer products to as many patients as possible make this an excellent strategic fit.”