About Kite Pharma
Kite Pharma is a Healthcare company based in Los Angeles (United States) founded in 2009, and was acquired by Gilead in August 2017. Cancer immunotherapy products are developed using genetic engineering. It operates on a HealthTech model. Kite Pharma has raised $97.7 million across 7 funding rounds from investors including Gilead, Amgen Business Development and Alta Partners. The company has 17 employees. Kite Pharma has completed 4 acquisitions, including Cell Design Labs, Gadeta and Interius Biotherapeutics. Its website kitepharma.com draws about 21 thousand monthly visits. Kite Pharma offers products and services including Yescarta and CAR T-Cell Therapy. Its focus areas include Biotechnology and Cell Therapy. Its legal entity is Gilead Sciences, Inc. Its competitors include Senti Biosciences, Caribou Biosciences and Poseida Therapeutics; 3 of its 3 listed competitors have raised funding.
Company details
Kite Pharma is dedicated to advancing cell therapy solutions for cancer treatment. The company specializes in CAR T-cell therapy, a personalized treatment designed to harness the immune system against blood cancers. Research and development efforts are directed toward improving patient responses, exploring diverse therapy modalities, and enhancing manufacturing speed. Operations are centered in the healthcare and biotechnology sector with a mission to achieve cures for cancer.
- Headquarters Los Angeles, United States
- Employees 17
- Stage Acquired
- SectorsHealthcare
- Website category Health · Biotechnology and Pharmaceuticals
- Phone•••• ••••
- Website kitepharma.com
- Social LinkedIn X
- Acquired by Gilead (Aug 2017)
- Legal Name Gilead Sciences, Inc.
- Annual Revenue$294 M (USD)-66as on Dec 31, 2024
- Net Profit$480 M (USD)-92as on Dec 31, 2024
- EBITDA$1.66 B (USD)-78as on Dec 31, 2024
- Total Equity Funding$97.7M (USD)
in 7 rounds
- Latest Funding Round$300M (USD), Post-IPO
Apr 2018
- InvestorsGilead
& 5 more
- Employee Count17
- Investments & AcquisitionsCell Design Labs
& 3 more
- Acquired byGilead
(Aug 2017)
Products & Services of Kite Pharma
Kite Pharma offers a comprehensive portfolio of products and services, including Yescarta and CAR T-Cell Therapy.
Yescarta is used for treating blood cancer effectively.
Custom therapy is developed for blood cancer treatment.
Funding Insights of Kite Pharma
Kite Pharma has successfully raised a total of $97.7M across 7 strategic funding rounds. The most recent funding activity was a Post-IPO round of $300 million completed in April 2018. This substantial capital infusion reflects strong investor confidence in the company's business model, growth potential, and market opportunities. The funding enables strategic expansion, product development, market penetration, and operational scaling to drive long-term value creation and competitive advantage.
- Total Funding $97.7M
- Total Rounds 7
- Last Round Post-IPO — $300M
- First Round $12.45M
(Mar 2011)
- Investors Count 5
All 7 funding rounds of Kite Pharma with amounts and investors; the two latest post-money valuations are shown, the rest are part of the premium plan.
| Date | Amount | Transaction Name | Valuation | Lead Investors | Investors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 2018 | $300M | Post-IPO | – | – | – |
| Jan 2015 | $60M | Post-IPO | – | – | |
| Dec 2014 | $188M | Post-IPO | – | – | – |
| May 2014 | $50M | Series B | – | – | – |
| May 2013 | $35M | Series A | – | Alta Partners | |
| Nov 2012 | $250,000 | Series A | – | – | – |
| Mar 2011 | $12.45M | Series A | – | – | – |
6 investors in total: 4 institutional and 2 angel.
Investors in Kite Pharma
Kite Pharma has secured backing from 6 investors, including venture fund, angel, and institutional investors. Prominent investors backing the company include Gilead, Amgen Business Development and Alta Partners.
| Investor | Description | Founded Year | Domain | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Venture capital investments are facilitated by Amgen-backed entity. | amgenbd.com | Thousand Oaks, United States | ||
Venture capital firm focused on healthcare companies | altapartners.com | Jackson, United States | ||
Pontifax Venture Capital is focused on life sciences investments. | pontifax.com | Herzeliya, Israel | ||
Developer of medicines to treat HIV/AIDS, liver diseases, cancer & others | 1987 | gilead.com | Foster City, United States | |
AB Arie Belldegrun | Biotech entrepreneur, investor, and founder of Kite Pharma, active in healthcare. | unknown_7a028ee6ead44ba58 | ||
DB David Bonderman J.D | Co-founder of TPG Capital, prominent global investor, active in India | unknown_065922fae0ee40648 |
Investor details for Kite Pharma
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People of Kite Pharma
886 people are tracked at Kite Pharma (559 in leadership, 9 in board & advisors, 318 in team); the tracked headcount is 17.
| Name | Role | Group |
|---|---|---|
Ambika Rana | Associate Director, Data Science | Leadership |
Rebecca Gledhill | Senior Manager, People Partner EMEA | Leadership |
Rie Devert | Senior Director, Patient Safety | Leadership |
Herman Wong | Director, Global Medical Information | Leadership |
Erin Burkhart | Senior Vice President, Controller & Chief Accounting Officer | Leadership |
Cesar Garcia Gonzalez | Business Analytics Associate Director | Leadership |
Jaymin Mehta | Vice President, Global Commercial Head Of Liver, Inflammation, Covid-19, And Established Products | Leadership |
Lucy Guest | Associate Director, Regulatory Operations | Leadership |
Rajesh Ravikumar | Associate Director, Integrated Insights And Analytics | Leadership |
Vimal Unewal Supply Chain Leader | Director, Trade Operations Uk/ire | Leadership |
Joni Kane | Director | Leadership |
Henriette Burghoorn | Associate Director, Market Access | Leadership |
Christine T. | Associate Director, Disability Inclusion & Strategic Projects | Leadership |
J.c. Andry | Director, Medical Excellence - Global Medical Strategy & Operations | Leadership |
Jonathan Israel | Associate Director, Business Analytics & Commercial Excellence | Leadership |
Kristen Pela | Head Of Learning, Communications & Knowledge Management | Leadership |
Simon L. | Director, Strategic Projects, CEO Office | Leadership |
Anupam Talapatra | Global Director Of Regulatory Affairs (precision Medicine), Previously IVD Quality Business Partner | Leadership |
Kerstin Schmidt | Senior Director, Global Medical Affairs, Oncology, Genitourinary Cancers | Leadership |
Qiang Liu | Executive Director | Leadership |
866 more people are available in the full profile.
Complete people profiles for Kite Pharma
Full employee and board profiles, team structure, tenure and professional contact details require an active premium plan.
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Investments & Acquisitions by Kite Pharma
Kite Pharma has strategically engaged in corporate development activities, having acquired 4 companies. Notable acquisitions include Cell Design Labs, Gadeta and Interius Biotherapeutics.
| Company Name | Description | Domain | Location | Founded | Acquired | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Developer of gene therapies for treating multiple diseases | interiusbio.com | Philadelphia, United States | 2020 | Aug 2025 | •••• | |
Leveraging the immunological potential of T cells to treat a wide range of diseases | tmunity.com | Philadelphia, United States | 2015 | Dec 2022 | •••• | |
T Cell based cancer therapies based on gamma delta (γδ) T cell receptors | gadeta.nl | Utrecht, Netherlands | 2015 | Jul 2018 | •••• | |
CAR T-cell immunotherapies for cancer and diseases are developed. | celldesignlabs.com | San Francisco, United States | 2016 | Dec 2017 | $567M |
Complete acquisition details for Kite Pharma
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Timeline of Kite Pharma
9 dated milestones of Kite Pharma across 16 years, from founding to its latest funding, stage changes and deals.
- Founded Kite Pharma is founded.
- Funding First funding round of $12.5M.
- IPO Lists on the stock exchange (IPO).
- Exit Acquired by Gilead.
- Acquisition Acquires Cell Design Labs.
- Funding Latest funding round, Post-IPO, of $300.0M.
- Acquisition Acquires Gadeta.
- Acquisition Acquires Tmunity Therapeutics.
- Acquisition Acquires Interius Biotherapeutics.
Competitors of Kite Pharma
Kite Pharma has 3 listed competitors in our database, 3 of them funded. They include Senti Biosciences, Caribou Biosciences and Poseida Therapeutics.
| Company Name | Domain | Founded | HQ Location | Total funding | Employees | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| sentibio.com | 2016 | San Francisco, United States | $158M | Cell-based therapies for cancer treatment are developed. | ||
| cariboubio.com | 2011 | Berkeley, United States | $156.55M | 92 | Provider of cell therapies to treat cancer and hematologic conditions | |
| poseida.com | 2015 | San Diego, United States | $323.78M | 259 | Developer of gene therapies for treating cancer and liver orphan disease by using gene editing technologies |
Detailed competitors of Kite Pharma
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Web traffic of Kite Pharma
The website of Kite Pharma (kitepharma.com) receives about 21.2K visits a month and ranks #1,302,695 among all websites worldwide, #1,671 in Biotechnology and Pharmaceuticals.
- Monthly visits21.2K
▼ 3.1% vs previous month
- Unique visitors10.3K
per month
- Global rank#1,302,695
among all websites
- Category rank#1,671
Health · Biotechnology and Pharmaceuticals
- Bounce rate48%
- Pages per visit1.6
- Average visit29 sec
- DevicesDesktop 51% · Mobile 49%
Websites whose visitors overlap most with Kite Pharma. Affinity shows how closely the audiences match.
| Website | Domain | Audience affinity | Monthly visits | Global rank | Profile |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| atarabio.com | 100% | 16.1K | #3,186,600 | View details | |
| antarespharma.com | 99% | View details | |||
| sunovion.com | 91% | 11.4K | #4,229,536 | View details | |
leo-pharma.us | leo-pharma.us | 76% | #5,900,667 | – | |
| fiercebiotech.com | 70% | 858.3K | #81,022 | View details | |
| •••••••••• | ••••••.com | ••% | •.•M | #••••• | – |
| •••••••••• | ••••••.com | ••% | •.•M | #••••• | – |
| •••••••••• | ••••••.com | ••% | •.•M | #••••• | – |
All 11 similar websites and full traffic analytics for Kite Pharma
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- 11 similar websites
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Top companies in Cell Therapy
3 companies that operate in the same segment as Kite Pharma (Cell Therapy) in United States, ranked by their profile score on The Company Check.
| Company | Description | Founded | Location | Total funding | Revenue | Employees |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
CAR T-cell and T-cell receptor immunotherapies for cancer are developed. | 2013 | Seattle, Washington, United States | USD 316.67 M | 520 | ||
CAR-T and TIL immunotherapies for solid tumors are developed. | 2018 | San Francisco, California, United States | USD 493 M | USD 36 K | 233 | |
Smart surgical devices for spinal surgery are developed. | 1997 | San Diego, California, United States | USD 54.1 M |
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Related news about Kite Pharma
Complete news archive for Kite Pharma
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Frequently Asked Questions about Kite Pharma
Kite Pharma was founded in 2009 and raised its 1st funding round 2 years after it was founded.
Kite Pharma is headquartered in Los Angeles, United States. It is registered at Los Angeles, California, United States.
Kite Pharma is a funded company, having raised a total of $97.7M across 7 funding rounds to date. The company's 1st funding round was a Series A of $12.45M, raised on Mar 2011.
Kite Pharma has 17 employees.
Annual revenue of Kite Pharma is $294M as on Dec 31, 2024.
Kite Pharma is dedicated to advancing cell therapy solutions for cancer treatment. The company specializes in CAR T-cell therapy, a personalized treatment designed to harness the immune system against blood cancers. Research and development efforts are directed toward improving patient responses, exploring diverse therapy modalities, and enhancing manufacturing speed. Operations are centered in the healthcare and biotechnology sector with a mission to achieve cures for cancer.
Kite Pharma's top competitors include Senti Biosciences, Caribou Biosciences and Poseida Therapeutics.
Kite Pharma offers Yescarta and CAR T-Cell Therapy.
Kite Pharma has made 4 acquisitions, including Cell Design Labs, Gadeta, and Interius Biotherapeutics.
Kite Pharma has 6 investors. Key investors include Gilead, Amgen Business Development, Alta Partners, Pontifax Venture Capital, and Arie Belldegrun.
Kite Pharma operates through Gilead Sciences, Inc..
Yes. Kite Pharma was acquired by Gilead in August 2017.

