Kite Pharma Appoints Adrian Bot, M.D., Ph.D., as Chief Scientific Officer

LOS ANGELES - July 11, 2011 - Kite Pharma, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing innovative active immunotherapies for cancer, announced today the appointment of Adrian Bot, M.D., Ph.D., as Chief Scientific Officer. Dr. Bot brings over 13 years of experience in the biopharmaceutical industry and expertise in discovery, research and development of active immunotherapies in oncology. At Kite, Dr. Bot will provide scientific and translational research leadership to the company's technologies and growing product pipeline as well as management of its academic and corporate collaborations. He will also support Kite's Chief Executive Officer in setting strategic directions as well as in other aspects of the company's operations.

"I am delighted to welcome Dr. Bot to our management team," said Aya Jakobovits, Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of Kite Pharma. "Adrian's extensive experience in developing cancer therapeutics, particularly in the field of active immunotherapy, and his proven scientific leadership will be invaluable as we advance our programs and integrate new technologies and products."

Dr. Bot stated: "As we are entering a new era of immune interventions for cancer, I am excited to join Kite's stellar management and to have the opportunity to advance its innovative therapies in this highly promising field."

Before joining Kite, Dr. Bot served as Vice President of Research at MannKind Corp, where he led the efforts to discover and advance through development a number of immunotherapies and targeted therapies for different cancer indications. Prior to joining MannKind, he served as Director of Immunology at Allecure Corp. and as Director of Immunology at Alliance Pharmaceutical Corp., where he led the research and development of novel vaccine adjuvants and immunotherapies. Dr. Bot received his M.D. degree from the University of Medicine and Pharmacy in Timisoara, Romania, and his Ph.D. in Biomedical Sciences from Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York. He conducted his post-graduate training as a visiting scientist at the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, CA. He has authored more than 75 scientific publications in basic and applied immunology and is an inventor on more than 10 patents on immune therapeutic approaches and innovative drugs for autoimmune diseases and oncology.

About Kite Pharma

Active immunotherapy is an emerging therapeutic modality for the treatment of multiple cancer indications. Kite Pharma, Inc. is a privately held development stage biotechnology company engaged in the design and development of cutting-edge immunotherapeutic products to treat different cancer indications. Kite's lead products include antigens associated with a wide variety of tumor types, and are initially being developed for the treatment of renal cell carcinoma and hepatocellular carcinoma. These potential therapies are designed to stimulate a patient's own immune system to help fight cancer and could represent novel strategies for the management and treatment of these otherwise incurable diseases. Kite is based in Los Angeles, CA. For more information, visit the company's website at www.kitepharma.com.