Frederick County is Where Big Ideas Grow, and nothing could be bigger than discovering and delivering a cure for cancer.
Kite, a Gilead Company, which leads innovative cell therapies for people battling cancer, will open a new facility on a 20-acre site in the Urbana Corporate Center. Kite will be a welcome addition to Frederick County’s key bioscience industry.
The National Institute of Cancer estimated in 2018 there were 1.7 million new cases of cancer with an estimated 600,000 people who died from the disease. Although the cancer mortality rate dropped 1.8 percent in 2018, according to the American Cancer Society, there is still much work today. That means Kite’s advancements is welcomed news for those affected by cancer.
The California-based biopharmaceutical company will not only be working on ground-breaking science in Frederick County, but also create significant job opportunities.
Frederick County Executive Jan Gardner said it was wonderful news for the county.
“Our businesses are on the leading edge of finding the cure for cancer,” she said. “We’re excited to welcome Kite to our life science and biopharma family. We were pleased to fast-track their project and want them to know our support will continue into the future. Frederick County is a great place to do business.”
Tim Moore, executive director of Technical Operations for Kite, said the new Frederick County facility will continue the company’s mission on “substantial technical capabilities and rapid progress in making personalized CAR T and TCR cell therapy for people with cancer.”
Moore also said the Frederick County site will allow Kite “the opportunity to build and design the facility tailored to our own innovative processes and with state-of-the-art features that will enable us to meet the future needs for cell therapies.”
Tom Natelli, owner of Urbana developer Natelli Communities, praised Frederick County’s efforts under Gardner’s leadership to bring high-quality and long-term job opportunities to the area.
The new facility will allow Kite to expand its ability to manufacture commercially available and investigational cell therapies. The Urbana facility will be part of Kite’s commercial manufacturing network that includes sites in California and the Netherlands.
For more information about Kite and its projects, visit https://www.kitepharma.com
Click here to read the Maryland Department of Commerce press release.
Click here to read the Frederick County Government press release.