Kite immunotherapy drug helps blood cancer patients in study

Pipette fills centrifuge tube for a scientific experiment (iStock)

Kite Pharma Inc on Monday said its experimental CAR T-cell therapy, which helps the immune system fight cancer, was highly effective in treating aggressive non-Hodgkin lymphoma, although two deaths were related to the drug, according to interim data from a midstage trial.

Shares of Kite, which had been halted before the release of the news, rose 11 percent when trading resumed.

Some 76 percent of patients taking the drug, called KTE-C19, showed significant tumor shrinkage, including 47 percent who had no remaining signs of cancer at least three months after receiving the treatment, Kite said.

CAR T-cell drugs are made by genetically altering a patients' own T-cells to add a component of antibodies that makes them better able to spot and kill cancer cells.