US-based Kite Pharma, part of Gilead Sciences since October 2017, is collaborating with Sangamo Therapeutics to develop next-generation engineered cell therapies to treat cancer.

Kite will use Sangamo’s zinc finger nuclease (ZFN) technology to modify genes for autologous and allogeneic use in treating different cancers.

Under the terms of the deal, Sangamo will receive an upfront payment of $150 million and will also be eligible to receive up to $3.01 billion in potential payments, aggregated across 10 or more products using ZFN technology and based on certain milestones. The company also stands to receive tiered royalties on sales of future products resulting from the alliance.

Kite will undertake all development, manufacturing and commercialization and will also be responsible for any agreed expenses that Sangamo incurs.

“The emergence of gene editing as a tool to edit immune cells holds promise in the development of therapies with potentially improved safety, efficacy and efficiency,” said John Milligan, Gilead’s president and CEO. “We believe Sangamo’s zinc finger nucleases provide the optimal gene-editing platform and we look forward to working with Sangamo to accelerate our efforts to develop next-generation autologous cell therapies, as well as allogeneic treatments that can be accessed more conveniently in the hospital setting for people living with cancer.”