Here's Why Kite Pharma (KITE) Stock Is Plummeting Today

Shares of Kite Pharma (NASDAQ:KITE) slipped more than 13% in morning trading Monday after it was revealed that a cancer patient died from brain swelling following treatment with the company’s CAR-T therapy KTE-C19.

The patient’s death, which occurred in April, was announced on a company conference call Monday morning. Kite said that the FDA was notified of the death, but the KTE-C19 safety study was not put on any sort of hold.

Kite recently submitted an application to have KTE-C19 approved to treat patients with advanced non-Hodgkin lymphoma. The treatment is a CAR-T therapy, which is an emerging method of fighting cancer in which a patient’s T cells are extracted, re-engineered to kill blood cancer cells, and then infused back into the body.

Investors are reacting to the death because brain swelling—also called cerebral edema—is the same reaction that recently tripped up a CAR-T therapy study by Juno Therapeutics (NASDAQ:JUNO) . Juno had to discontinue its would-be treatment after five patients died from cerebral edema.

On today’s conference call, Kite Chief Medical Officer David Chang explained that the patient’s non-Hodgkin lymphoma was “explosive” and “rapidly progressing.” Chang said the patient’s condition deteriorated and led to death within two days.

Kite shares were down as much as 13.7% to $70.57 in morning trading. Kite Pharma is currently a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

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