Francesco M. Marincola Joins Kite as Worldwide Head of Cell Therapy Research

-- Research Veteran Brings More than 30 Years of Industry and NIH Experience to Kite Leadership Team --

SANTA MONICA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Kite, a Gilead Company (Nasdaq: GILD), today announced that Francesco Marincola, MD, will join the company as Senior Vice President and Global Head of Cell Therapy Research, effective February 1. Dr. Marincola will lead Kite’s Research organization across hematological malignancies and solid tumors.

“Franco’s proven track record in oncology and robust research experience that spans the NIH to industry will be critical to the targeting and acceleration of our research efforts in CAR T and beyond,” said Christi Shaw, Chief Executive Officer of Kite. “As the cell therapy leader, we are thrilled to welcome Franco to our team and are confident that his exceptional skills and expertise will best position our research to discover potentially life-saving therapies for patients in need.”

Dr. Marincola joins Kite from Refuge Biotechnologies Inc., where he was President and Chief Scientific Officer, responsible for the development and implementation of research and clinical development of synthetic biology strategies for adoptive cell therapy products and lead therapeutic programs based on nuclease deactivated CRISPR circuits. He is also a National Institutes of Health (NIH) tenured senior investigator in cancer immunotherapy and biomarker research, and spent 23 years at the NIH, including 15 years as the Chief of the Infectious Disease and Immunogenetics Section at the NIH Clinical Center. Previously, he also served as a distinguished research fellow in immune oncology discovery at AbbVie and as Chief Research Officer at Sidra Research in Doha, Qatar. The former President of the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC; 2013-2014), he currently serves as Editor-in-Chief for several prominent peer-reviewed publications, including Journal of Translational Medicine, Translational Medicine Communications and Immunotherapy, and is the author of more than 600 peer-reviewed publications.

“It is an honor to bring my experience to an industry-leading team that is working to make cell therapies with curative intent available to patients,” said Dr. Marincola. “I look forward to helping build and diversify our research efforts in support of this mission.”

About Kite

Kite, a Gilead Company, is a biopharmaceutical company based in Santa Monica, California, with commercial manufacturing operations in North America and Europe. Kite is engaged in the development of innovative cancer immunotherapies. The company is focused on chimeric antigen receptor and T cell receptor engineered cell therapies. For more information on Kite, please visit www.kitepharma.com.

About Gilead Sciences

Gilead Sciences, Inc. is a research-based biopharmaceutical company that discovers, develops and commercializes innovative medicines in areas of unmet medical need. The company strives to transform and simplify care for people with life-threatening illnesses around the world. Gilead has operations in more than 35 countries worldwide, with headquarters in Foster City, California. For more information on Gilead Sciences, please visit the company’s website at www.gilead.com.

For more information on Kite, please visit the company’s website at www.kitepharma.com or call Gilead Public Affairs at 1-800-GILEAD-5 or 1-650-574-3000. Follow Kite on social media on Twitter (@KitePharma) and LinkedIn.