Kite and HiFiBiO Therapeutics Partner to Discover Novel Targets and Antibodies Against Acute Myeloid Leukemia

Kite, a Gilead Company, and HiFiBiO Therapeutics announced the companies have entered into a two-year research collaboration and license agreement in acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Through this collaboration, HiFiBiO will use its proprietary technology platforms to identify novel AML targets and anti-AML specific antibodies for Kite’s use in cell therapies.

“Kite is committed to pursuing novel cell therapies for people living with AML,” said Peter Emtage, PhD, Senior Vice President of Research at Kite. “To date, most efforts to identify AML-specific targets have focused on mining proteomic datasets, as opposed to individual AML patient samples. We are excited to partner with HiFiBiO, whose innovative technology platform allows for screening of novel targets in AML patient samples, as well as the potential identification of anti-AML antibodies to be harnessed for use in cell therapies for patients.”

“We look forward to working with Kite to identify disease-relevant targets directly from AML patient samples,” said Liang Schweizer, PhD, President and CEO of HiFiBiO Therapeutics. “This is another novel target discovery application that complements our current antibody and biomarker capabilities and showcases the versatility of our platform.”

Under the terms of the agreement, HiFiBiO will receive an upfront payment and will be eligible for additional payments based on the achievement of certain research milestones. Kite will have an exclusive option to opt in on any targets discovered through the collaboration, for which HiFiBiO will receive an additional payment and will be eligible for additional development, regulatory and commercial milestone payments, as well as royalty payments.