Feb 23 (Reuters) – Gilead Sciences said on Monday it will buy cancer therapy partner Arcellx for an implied equity value of $7.8 billion, expanding their cell therapy development collaboration that started in 2022.
Shares of Arcellx climbed 77.8% to $113.99 while Gilead fell about 1% in premarket trading.
Gilead will pay $115 per share in cash at the deal’s closing, which is at a premium of 79% to the stock’s last close.
Kite Pharma, a unit of Gilead Sciences, was partnering with Arcellx to jointly develop and sell anito-cel, an experimental CAR-T therapy for multiple myeloma, a type of blood cancer.
CAR-T cell therapy is a cancer treatment that uses a patient’s own genetically modified immune cells to find and kill cancer cells.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is currently reviewing the therapy, with a decision expected by December 23 this year.
Upon FDA approval of anito-cel, the proposed transaction is expected to be accretive to earnings per share in 2028 and thereafter.
Gilead will also pay Arcellx shareholders $5 per share, contingent upon the achievement of cumulative global net sales of anito-cel of at least $6 billion from launch through year-end 2029.
(Reporting by Christy Santhosh in Bengaluru; Editing by Leroy Leo and Pooja Desai)
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