Gilead Sciences’ Kite announced that it will be launching CAR-T cell therapy operations in Brazil, Singapore and Saudi Arabia.
According to the recent statement by Kite, all three countries are in need of therapies for advanced blood cancers, with lymphomas being the fifth most common cancer overall in both Singapore and Saudi Arabia. The company will be partnering with local hospital to offer its CAR-T cell therapy products. The company also plans to increase its workforce in these countries in 2022.
Kite’s CAR-T technology has been in the spotlight recently for other reasons too. Since 2017, the company has been in a patent tug-of-war with Juno Therapeutics, a BMS company.
A few months ago, BMS attempted to bring the patent infringement case to the Supreme Court. So far, Kite’s defense has held up in court. In 2021, the appeals court overturned a previous ruling stating that BMS was entitled to up to $1.2 billion over patent infringement, taking Gilead’s side on grounds that the “CAR-T invention was not supported by the adequate description.”