Kite Pharma Announces Exclusive License with the National Institutes of Health for Multiple Neoantigen Directed T-Cell Receptor (TCR) Product Candidates to Treat Solid Tumors Expressing Mutated KRAS

SANTA MONICA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Kite Pharma, Inc. (Nasdaq:KITE), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing engineered autologous T-cell therapy (eACT™) products for the treatment of cancer, today announced that the Company has entered into an exclusive, worldwide license with the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for intellectual property related to multiple T-cell receptor (TCR) based product candidates for the treatment of tumors expressing mutated KRAS antigens.

Kite expects the first of the licensed KRAS product candidates to enter clinical study in 2016 as part of the Company's Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) with the National Cancer Institute (NCI) under the direction of Steven A. Rosenberg, M.D., Ph.D., Chief of the Surgery Branch at the NCI.

KRAS is one of the most commonly mutated genes in all of human cancer and is involved in a broad range of solid tumors, such as pancreatic, colorectal, and lung cancer, for which there are significant unmet medical needs.

"Neoantigens are uniquely present in tumors but absent in healthy tissue which makes them attractive targets for using our TCR technology," stated Arie Belldegrun, M.D., FACS, Kite's Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer. "Kite has taken an important step toward building the first therapeutic franchise of its kind for cancers driven by KRAS mutations and has further expanded its efforts in building a TCR portfolio across key classes of antigens, including cancer testis and viral antigens."

Pursuant to the terms of the license agreement, NIH will receive from Kite an upfront payment and certain clinical, regulatory, and sales milestone payments, as well as royalties on net sales of products covered by the license.

About Kite Pharma

Kite Pharma, Inc. is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company engaged in the development of novel cancer immunotherapy products, with a primary focus on engineered autologous cell therapy (eACT™) designed to restore the immune system's ability to recognize and eradicate tumors. Kite is based in Santa Monica, CA. For more information on Kite Pharma, please visit www.kitepharma.com. Sign up to follow @KitePharma on Twitter at www.twitter.com/kitepharma.

Kite Pharma, Inc. Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements for purposes of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The press release may, in some cases, use terms such as "predicts," "believes," "potential," "proposed," "continue," "estimates," "anticipates," "expects," "plans," "intends," "may," "could," "might," "will," "should" or other words that convey uncertainty of future events or outcomes to identify these forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements include statements regarding intentions, beliefs, projections, outlook, analyses or current expectations concerning, among other things: the ability to advance and the success of TCR-based product candidates directed against KRAS antigens and the ability, timing and willingness of the NCI to continue research and development activities pursuant to the CRADA. Various factors may cause differences between Kite's expectations and actual results as discussed in greater detail in Kite's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including without limitation in its Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2016. Any forward-looking statements that are made in this press release speak only as of the date of this press release. Kite assumes no obligation to update the forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, after the date of this press release.

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Kite PharmaChristine CassianoSVP, Corporate Communications & Investor Relationsccassiano@kitepharma.comorGreg MannVP, Investor Relationsgmann@kitepharma.com

Source: Kite Pharma, Inc.

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