Laura Alquist

Laura Alquist is Vice President and Head of Global Manufacturing at Kite, a Gilead Company, where she leads a multi-site, global network of T-cell therapy and viral vector facilities responsible for manufacturing Kite’s cell therapy products. Employees at Kite manufacturing locations ensure successful production and delivery of innovative CAR T-cell therapies to patients around the world with industry-leading turnaround times. The team works collaboratively with other Technical Operations functions (i.e., Process Development, Quality, Supply Chain), as well as Clinical Operations, Commercial, and IT to anticipate and meet patient demand for Kite’s cell therapy products. Laura joined Kite in 2016, serving in a variety of positions where she helped design and optimize end-to-end operations and processes. She was instrumental in shaping and scaling Kite’s global operations as the company’s reach and network expanded, and as the number of regulatory geographies and demand for commercial products grew. Most recently, Laura led the Global Supply Chain organization in managing logistics, labeling, and packaging engineering, inventory management, sourcing and procurement, supply and operations planning, master data governance, sales and operations, and business systems. Prior to joining Kite, Laura spent 20 years at Amgen in a range of global and operational roles of increasing responsibility across Supply Chain, Manufacturing, Quality, and IT. Laura holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Management from California Lutheran University and is APICS certified in Supply Chain operations.