Gilead’s Kite Pharma struck a multi-partner collaboration with Chinese biotech Pregene Biopharma to accelerate in vivo CAR‑T and related next‑generation cell therapies, with the agreement carrying up to ~$1.6 billion in potential value. Kite paid a substantial upfront to initiate joint R&D and stands to trigger further milestones as Pregene advances candidates, reflecting Kite’s strategic bet on in‑body CAR programming to broaden access and reduce manufacturing complexity. Pregene brings high‑throughput CAR‑T/CAR‑NK/TCR‑T screening and novel manufacturing processes to the partnership; both companies described oncology and autoimmune indications as priority targets. The pact follows a wave of deals in the in‑vivo CAR space as large firms chase scalable, off‑the‑shelf cell‑therapy approaches.