Kite Pharma

Los Angeles, United States Founded: 2009 • Age: 17 yrs Listed Acquired By Gilead
Cancer immunotherapy products are developed using genetic engineering.

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
  • Sectors
    Healthcare
  • Website category Health · Biotechnology and Pharmaceuticals
  • Phone
    •••• ••••
  • Website kitepharma.com
  • Social LinkedIn X
  • Acquired by Gilead (Aug 2017)
  • Legal Name Gilead Sciences, Inc.
Key Metrics
  • Annual Revenue
    $294 M (USD)
    -66
    as on Dec 31, 2024
  • Net Profit
    $480 M (USD)
    -92
    as on Dec 31, 2024
  • EBITDA
    $1.66 B (USD)
    -78
    as on Dec 31, 2024
  • Total Equity Funding
    $97.7M (USD)

    in 7 rounds

  • Latest Funding Round
    $300M (USD), Post-IPO

    Apr 2018

  • Investors
    Gilead

    & 5 more

  • Employee Count
    17
  • Investments & Acquisitions
  • Acquired by
    Gilead

    (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
CAR T-Cell Therapy

Yescarta is used for treating blood cancer effectively.

CAR T-Cell Therapy
Cell Therapy

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.

DateAmountTransaction NameValuationLead InvestorsInvestors
Apr 2018$300MPost-IPO––
–
Jan 2015$60MPost-IPO––
Dec 2014$188MPost-IPO––
–
May 2014$50MSeries B––
–
May 2013$35MSeries A–Alta Partners
Nov 2012$250,000Series A––
–
Mar 2011$12.45MSeries A––
–
Valuation history

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.

All
Venture Fund
Institutional
Angel
InvestorDescriptionFounded YearDomainLocation
Venture capital investments are facilitated by Amgen-backed entity.
amgenbd.comThousand Oaks, United States
Venture capital firm focused on healthcare companies
altapartners.comJackson, United States
Pontifax Venture Capital is focused on life sciences investments.
pontifax.comHerzeliya, Israel
Developer of medicines to treat HIV/AIDS, liver diseases, cancer & others
1987gilead.comFoster City, United States

Arie Belldegrun

Biotech entrepreneur, investor, and founder of Kite Pharma, active in healthcare.
unknown_7a028ee6ead44ba58

David Bonderman J.D

Co-founder of TPG Capital, prominent global investor, active in India
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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.

NameRoleGroup
Ambika Rana
Associate Director, Data ScienceLeadership
Rebecca Gledhill
Senior Manager, People Partner EMEALeadership
Rie Devert
Senior Director, Patient SafetyLeadership
Herman Wong
Director, Global Medical InformationLeadership
Erin Burkhart
Senior Vice President, Controller & Chief Accounting OfficerLeadership
Cesar Garcia Gonzalez
Business Analytics Associate DirectorLeadership
Jaymin Mehta
Vice President, Global Commercial Head Of Liver, Inflammation, Covid-19, And Established ProductsLeadership
Lucy Guest
Associate Director, Regulatory OperationsLeadership
Rajesh Ravikumar
Associate Director, Integrated Insights And AnalyticsLeadership
Vimal Unewal Supply Chain Leader
Director, Trade Operations Uk/ireLeadership
Joni Kane
DirectorLeadership
Henriette Burghoorn
Associate Director, Market AccessLeadership
Christine T.
Associate Director, Disability Inclusion & Strategic ProjectsLeadership
J.c. Andry
Director, Medical Excellence - Global Medical Strategy & OperationsLeadership
Jonathan Israel
Associate Director, Business Analytics & Commercial ExcellenceLeadership
Kristen Pela
Head Of Learning, Communications & Knowledge ManagementLeadership
Simon L.
Director, Strategic Projects, CEO OfficeLeadership
Anupam Talapatra
Global Director Of Regulatory Affairs (precision Medicine), Previously IVD Quality Business PartnerLeadership
Kerstin Schmidt
Senior Director, Global Medical Affairs, Oncology, Genitourinary CancersLeadership
Qiang Liu
Executive DirectorLeadership

866 more people are available in the full profile.

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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.

Acquisitions
Company NameDescriptionDomainLocationFoundedAcquiredAmount
Developer of gene therapies for treating multiple diseases
interiusbio.comPhiladelphia, United States2020Aug 2025••••
Leveraging the immunological potential of T cells to treat a wide range of diseases
tmunity.comPhiladelphia, United States2015Dec 2022••••
T Cell based cancer therapies based on gamma delta (γδ) T cell receptors
gadeta.nlUtrecht, Netherlands2015Jul 2018••••
CAR T-cell immunotherapies for cancer and diseases are developed.
celldesignlabs.comSan Francisco, United States2016Dec 2017$567M
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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.

  1. Founded Kite Pharma is founded.
  2. Funding First funding round of $12.5M.
  3. IPO Lists on the stock exchange (IPO).
  4. Exit Acquired by Gilead.
  5. Acquisition Acquires Cell Design Labs.
  6. Funding Latest funding round, Post-IPO, of $300.0M.
  7. Acquisition Acquires Gadeta.
  8. Acquisition Acquires Tmunity Therapeutics.
  9. 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 NameDomainFoundedHQ LocationTotal fundingEmployeesDescription
sentibio.com2016San Francisco, United States$158M
Cell-based therapies for cancer treatment are developed.
cariboubio.com2011Berkeley, United States$156.55M92
Provider of cell therapies to treat cancer and hematologic conditions
poseida.com2015San Diego, United States$323.78M259
Developer of gene therapies for treating cancer and liver orphan disease by using gene editing technologies
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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 visits
    21.2K

    ▼ 3.1% vs previous month

  • Unique visitors
    10.3K

    per month

  • Global rank
    #1,302,695

    among all websites

  • Category rank
    #1,671

    Health · Biotechnology and Pharmaceuticals

Similar websites

Websites whose visitors overlap most with Kite Pharma. Affinity shows how closely the audiences match.

WebsiteDomainAudience affinityMonthly visitsGlobal rankProfile
atarabio.com
100%
16.1K#3,186,600View details
antarespharma.com
99%
View details
sunovion.com
91%
11.4K#4,229,536View details
leo-pharma.us
leo-pharma.us
76%
#5,900,667–
fiercebiotech.com
70%
858.3K#81,022View details
••••••••••••••••.com••%•.•M#•••••–
••••••••••••••••.com••%•.•M#•••••–
••••••••••••••••.com••%•.•M#•••••–
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All 11 similar websites and full traffic analytics for Kite Pharma

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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.

CompanyDescriptionFoundedLocationTotal fundingRevenueEmployees
CAR T-cell and T-cell receptor immunotherapies for cancer are developed.
2013Seattle, Washington, United StatesUSD 316.67 M520
CAR-T and TIL immunotherapies for solid tumors are developed.
2018San Francisco, California, United StatesUSD 493 MUSD 36 K233
Smart surgical devices for spinal surgery are developed.
1997San Diego, California, United StatesUSD 54.1 M
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Related news about 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.

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