Gilead Sciences Inc  is set to acquire the biotherapeutics firm Cell Design Labs Inc for up to $567 million.

The acquisition comes  after the recent purchase of Kite Pharma ( which already owns 12,2% of  Cell Design Labs shares) giving it access to two new technology platforms that would help in the development of cancer drugs.

The two platforms Throttle and synNotch are both working on CAR T: the first use small molecules to modulate CAR T activity, while the second one is designed to respond to external signals and can be used to develop CAR T cells requiring dual antigen recognition for activation.

These new technologies will support Kite research and development programmes for the treatment of haematological and solid tumours.

Cell Design’s pipeline includes early stage treatments for prostate cancer and a type of blood cancer.

Read further: Reuters