May 24 Company Quick Takes: End of Alpine-Kite deal; plus Jakafi label expansion and more
Kite ends immunotherapy deal with Alpine
Alpine Immune Sciences Inc. (NASDAQ:ALPN) said Kite Pharma Inc. terminated a 2015 deal to discover and develop protein-based immunotherapies targeting the immune synapse to treat cancer. The deal granted the Gilead Sciences Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) unit an exclusive license to two programs from Alpine's transmembrane immunomodulatory protein technology, which Kite was to use to develop CAR and TCR product candidates. Gilead declined to disclose details (see "Immune Orchestration").
GvHD marks third FDA-approval for Incyte's Jakafi
FDA approved Jakafi ruxolitinib from Incyte Corp. (NASDAQ:INCY) to treat steroid-refractory acute graft-versus-host disease in adult and pediatric patients ages 12 and older. The oral JAK-1 and JAK-2 inhibitor is already approved to treat polycythemia vera and myelofibrosis...