Penn biotech spin-out Interius acquired in $350 million deal

Interius BioTherapeutics, a Penn biotechnology spin-out company, entered a $350 million cash agreement last week to be acquired by Kite Pharma. 

The privately held company — which was cofounded by Penn Medicine professor Saar Gill and is currently based in Pennovation Works — engineered a novel integrating “in vivo” platform to deliver CAR-T cells directly into patients. Kite aims to use this platform to simplify treatment processes and reduce costs, according to Reuters.

“This marks a pivotal step for Interius and the future of in vivo therapy, which has the potential to reduce treatment timelines, broaden access to care and improve outcomes for patients with aggressive or advanced disease,” Interius President and Chief Executive Officer Phil Johnson wrote in a press release announcing the acquisition.

Chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy is a cancer treatment pioneered at Penn Medicine under direction from Center for Cellular Immunotherapies director Carl June. It works by modifying a patient’s T-cells — a type of white blood cell central to the immune system — to better distinguish and attack cancer cells.

The treatment begins with the removal of T-cells from the patient. The cells are then taken to labs, where they are genetically modified to attack cancerous cells before being reinserted into the patient’s bloodstream. However, this process can take weeks, and is complex and expensive.

Interius’ “in-vivo” approach utilizes intravenous infusion to deliver DNA directly into the patient’s genome, potentially accelerating and simplifying CAR-T cell therapy into a single-shot treatment.

“In-vivo therapy is a promising frontier with the potential to transform how we approach treating patients, shifting to more accessible and scalable solutions,” executive vice president of Kite Pharma Cindy Perettie said.

The joint Gilead and Interius press release announcement noted that Interius’s team and operations would integrate into Kite’s established research team, establishing a “center of excellence” in Philadelphia. 

“By combining Interius’s teams and their novel platform with Kite’s deep expertise and footprint in cell therapy research, development and manufacturing, we aim to advance best-in-class in-vivo therapies to bring them to patients more efficiently,” Perettie said.

Interius is not the first Penn-based company Kite Pharma has expressed interest in acquiring. In 2023, Kite Pharma acquired Tmunity Therapeutics, a biotech company co-founded by June that was also focused on revolutionizing CAR-T cell therapies.

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