Industry Veterans Appointed to Head the Global Technical Operations and Clinical Development Organizations at Kite
21.11.2019 16:30:00 EET | Business Wire | Press release
Kite, a Gilead Company (Nasdaq: GILD), today announced two new additions to the company’s leadership team. Charles Calderaro will join Kite as Global Head of Technical Operations, and Ken Takeshita, MD will join as Global Head of Clinical Development. Both Mr. Calderaro and Dr. Takeshita will report directly to Christi Shaw, Chief Executive Officer of Kite.
“Innovation in manufacturing and scientific advancement are dually critical to the delivery and continued progress of cell therapy,” said Ms. Shaw. “We are pleased to welcome Charles and Ken, whose deep and diverse experience will bolster Kite’s leadership in cell therapy and ensure that we are best positioned to meet the needs of patients now and well into the future.”
Mr. Calderaro will be responsible for leading all aspects of Kite’s technical operations, including process development, manufacturing, supply chain management, quality assurance and end-to-end optimization for the company’s commercial and pipeline products, effective December 9, 2019. He joins Kite from BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc., where he currently holds the position of Senior Vice President, Global Manufacturing and is responsible for the strategic oversight and leadership of the company’s international operations network. Previous to this, Mr. Calderaro was the Vice President of Technical Product Management at Genentech leading the CMC life cycle management of the company’s small molecule product portfolio in Basel, Switzerland.
“I am impressed with Kite’s R&D and manufacturing excellence, which have had a dramatic impact on the treatment of cancer and really helped set the company apart,” said Mr. Calderaro. “I look forward to bringing my experience to the company and to working with the many talented individuals dedicated to changing the way this disease is treated.”
Dr. Takeshita will head Kite’s cell therapy clinical development organization, including the company’s pipeline in solid tumor research, effective December 3, 2019. He joins Kite from Sorrento Therapeutics, Inc., where he is currently Senior Vice President, Clinical Research, responsible for clinical development strategy in oncology. His previous experience includes many years at Celgene Corporation, where he was Corporate Vice President for Clinical R&D and the Therapeutic Area Head for Lymphoma and CLL.
“It is a privilege to have the opportunity to contribute to Kite’s industry-leading cell therapy clinical development program,” said Dr. Takeshita. “I am excited by the company’s pipeline and consistent commitment to next-generation science, and look forward to helping further the team’s collective mission.”
About Kite
Kite, a Gilead Company, is a biopharmaceutical company based in Santa Monica, California. Kite is engaged in the development of innovative cancer immunotherapies. The company is focused on chimeric antigen receptor and T cell receptor engineered cell therapies. For more information on Kite, please visit www.kitepharma.com.
About Gilead Sciences
Gilead Sciences, Inc. is a research-based biopharmaceutical company that discovers, develops and commercializes innovative medicines in areas of unmet medical need. The company strives to transform and simplify care for people with life-threatening illnesses around the world. Gilead has operations in more than 35 countries worldwide, with headquarters in Foster City, California. For more information on Gilead Sciences, please visit the company’s website at www.gilead.com.
For more information on Kite, please visit the company’s website at www.kitepharma.com. Learn more about Gilead at www.gilead.com, follow Gilead on Twitter (@GileadSciences) or call Gilead Public Affairs at 1-800-GILEAD-5 or 1-650-574-3000.
To view this piece of content from cts.businesswire.com, please give your consent at the top of this page.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20191121005296/en/
Contact information
Greg Mann, Investors
(424) 322-1795
Shant Salakian, Media
(424) 384-1841
About Business Wire
For more than 50 years, Business Wire has been the global leader in press release distribution and regulatory disclosure.
Subscribe to releases from Business Wire
Subscribe to all the latest releases from Business Wire by registering your e-mail address below. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Latest releases from Business Wire
Incyte’s Pivotal frontMIND Trial Showed Tafasitamab (Monjuvi ® /Minjuvi ® ) Combination Significantly Prolonged Progression-free Survival, Reducing the Risk of Disease Progression or Death by 25% in Patients with Previously Untreated, High-risk DLBCL30.5.2026 15:00:00 EEST | Press release
Incyte (Nasdaq:INCY) today announced positive results from the pivotal Phase 3 frontMIND trial evaluating the efficacy and safety of tafasitamab (Monjuvi®/Minjuvi®), a humanized Fc-modified cytolytic CD19-targeting monoclonal antibody, and lenalidomide added to R-CHOP (rituximab, cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine and prednisone; Tafa-Len-R-CHOP) versus R-CHOP alone as a first-line treatment for adults with previously untreated diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) or high-grade B-cell lymphoma (HGBL). Eligible patients had an International Prognostic Index (IPI) score of 3-5, or, for patients ≤60 years of age, an age-adjusted IPI (aaIPI) of 2-3. The oral presentation of these data is taking place at the 2026 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting being held May 29 – June 2, 2026, in Chicago (Abstract #LBA7000. Session: Oral Abstract Session – Hematologic Malignancies – Lymphoma and Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia. May 30, 4:00 – 7:00 p.m. ET [3:00 – 6:00 p.m.
Fortegra Completes Acquisition by DB Insurance29.5.2026 23:30:00 EEST | Press release
The Fortegra Group, Inc. ("Fortegra"), a global specialty insurance company, today announced the completion of its acquisition by DB Insurance Co., Ltd. ("DB"), one of Korea's leading property and casualty insurers. The transaction, announced on September 26, 2025, received all required regulatory and stockholder approvals. Fortegra will operate independently, maintaining its existing leadership team, distribution relationships, and underwriting discipline. Agents, distribution partners, and customers will continue to experience the service excellence that has defined the Fortegra experience. Richard Kahlbaugh, Chairman and CEO of Fortegra, said: "Every company eventually changes ownership. That is the nature of business. The closing of this acquisition is a starting point. As part of DB Insurance, Fortegra is positioned to expand our business geographically, enhance our capabilities and deepen our market presence in the US, Europe, the United Kingdom and Asia. Together, DB Insurance a
SINOVAC Receives Nasdaq Notification Regarding Late Filing of 2025 Annual Report29.5.2026 23:01:00 EEST | Press release
Sinovac Biotech Ltd. (Nasdaq: SVA) (“SINOVAC” or the “Company”), a leading provider of biopharmaceutical products in China, today announced that it received a notification letter dated May 20, 2026 (the “Notification Letter”), from Nasdaq Listing Qualifications (“Nasdaq”) stating that as of May 8, 2026, the Company had regained compliance with the periodic filing and interim financial requirements in Nasdaq Listing Rules 5250(c)(1) (the “Periodic Filing Rule”) and 5250(c)(2), as required by the Panel’s decision dated January 21, 2026. As previously disclosed on January 22, 2026, under the Panel’s decision, SINOVAC was required to, on or before May 11, 2026, demonstrate compliance with such Nasdaq Listing Rules by completing filings of its annual report for the year ended December 31, 2024, on Form 20-F and an interim balance sheet and income statement as of the end of its second quarter of 2025 on Form 6-K. The Company timely completed such filings as required by the Panel’s decision.
From Network Automation to Agentic NetOps: NetBrain Sets the Standard for Deploying AI in Network Operations29.5.2026 16:00:00 EEST | Press release
NetBrain Technologies, Inc. today announced major new platform features that advance Agentic NetOps from an emerging category to operational reality. NetBrain's clients are already deploying agents that are diagnosing and remediating issues across complex multi-vendor enterprise networks. These new features further extend the platform with new agent tooling, cross-domain context, and open interfaces for the broader agentic enterprise. Early customer outcomes show the magnitude of the shift: A leading health insurer used NetBrain's Deep Diagnosis agent to diagnose and resolve a weeks old VPN connectivity issue in under five minutes. A large manufacturer resolved a critical device issue with a single prompt, isolating the root cause across the network path in under 20 minutes, saving hundreds of hours of engineer time, shrinking MTTR by more than 95%. A global telecommunications firm found NetBrain's context-grounded agents outperformed a stand-alone frontier LLM on a persistent firewall
Adtran resolves long-running patent litigation, reinforcing commitment to defend innovation29.5.2026 15:00:00 EEST | Press release
Adtran today announced it has resolved a patent litigation matter, resulting in a full settlement and dismissal of all claims with prejudice. The case, initiated in 2020 by a non-practicing entity asserting five patents, was transferred to the US District Court for the Northern District of Alabama in 2021 following a successful motion by Adtran. Adtran subsequently filed counterclaims, including bad-faith patent assertion under Alabama statutory law. The settlement includes payment to Adtran to resolve its counterclaims. Terms of the agreement remain confidential. “This outcome reflects a disciplined and consistent approach to protecting our innovation and our customers,” said Justin Ferguson, SVP and general counsel at Adtran. “We take all claims seriously, but we will not hesitate to defend ourselves when assertions lack merit. Situations like this place unnecessary strain on technology providers and divert resources from advancing networks and services. By advancing our counterclaim
In our pressroom you can read all our latest releases, find our press contacts, images, documents and other relevant information about us.
Visit our pressroom