Gilead company Kite has expanded its existing partnership with Arcellx for the latter’s CART-ddBCMA candidate to include lymphomas.

The parties entered an international strategic deal in December 2022 to jointly develop and market a CART-ddBCMA candidate for relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma.

Kite has now exercised its licence option for ACLX-001, an ARC-SparX programme of Arcellx in multiple myeloma.

Arcellx is entitled to receive an equity investment of $200m in exchange for 3,242,542 shares of its common stock.

The funding will offer 13% ownership of Arcellx to Gilead.

Arcellx is also eligible to receive $85m in upfront non-dilutive cash payment, separately from milestone payments in the future.

The deal will close by the end of 2023.

A BCMA-specific CAR-modified T-cell therapy of Arcellx, CART-ddBCMA is currently in a Phase II clinical trial. 

Kite executive vice-president Cindy Perettie stated: “We are pleased to see the momentum with the CART-ddBCMA multiple myeloma programme, enabling Kite to enter an area of high unmet need and bring a new, potentially best-in-class cell therapy to patients.

“Given this, we are deepening our relationship with Arcellx to further support the advancement of CART-ddBCMA, bolster our pipeline in multiple myeloma [and] access opportunities in lymphoma.

“In expanding our strategic partnership with Arcellx, we are building upon the established synergy between Arcellx’s platform technologies and Kite’s industry-leading position in CAR T manufacturing and commercialisation.”

Cell & Gene Therapy coverage on Pharmaceutical Technology is supported by Cytiva.

Editorial content is independently produced and follows the highest standards of journalistic integrity. Topic sponsors are not involved in the creation of editorial content.