SEATTLE, WA, USA I October 23, 2017 I Alpine Immune Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALPN), a leading immunotherapy company focused on developing treatments for autoimmune diseases and cancer, today announced it has extended the research term of its worldwide research and license agreement with Kite, a Gilead (NASDAQ:GILD) company.

The research collaboration and license agreement, initiated in October 2015, grants Kite an exclusive license to two Alpine programs from Alpine’s Transmembrane Immunomodulatory Protein (TIP) program. The license allows Kite to further engineer these candidates into chimeric antigen receptor (CAR-T) and T cell receptor (TCR) product candidates.

The research term extension does not change the $535 million in up front and potential regulatory milestones payable to Alpine in the original agreement or royalties Alpine may earn on potential future sales of Kite products incorporating Alpine’s TIP technology. Kite will continue to have access to two programs from Alpine’s TIP technology for use in CAR-T and TCRs during the extended research term.

About Alpine Immune Sciences, Inc.

Alpine Immune Sciences, Inc. is focused on developing novel protein-based immunotherapies using its proprietary Variant Ig Domain (vIgD) platform technology. The vIgD platform is designed to interact with multiple targets, including many present in the immune synapse. Alpine’s vIgDs are developed using a process known as directed evolution, which produces proteins capable of either enhancing or diminishing an immune response and thereby may potentially apply therapeutically to cancer, autoimmune, and inflammatory diseases. Alpine has also developed TIP technology, based on the vIgD platform, to potentially enhance engineered cellular therapies. For more information visit www.alpineimmunesciences.com/.

SOURCE: Alpine Immune Sciences