 In December, Kite Pharma announced that it has initiated a phase 1/2 clinical study of KTE-C19 (ZUMA-3) for the treatment of adult patients with relapsed/refractory acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL).KTE-C19 is an investigational therapy in which a patient's T cells are genetically modified to express a chimeric antigen receptor designed to target the antigen CD19, a protein expressed on the cell surface of B-cell lymphomas and leukemias.In the same month, Kite Pharma and GE Global Research announced they will partner to develop a next-generation, functionally integrated and automated manufacturing system for engineered T-cell therapy.