Gilead Sciences Inc has decided to turn a successful collaboration into ownership with an agreement to buy Arcellx Inc, a developer of cell therapies. The offer is for $115 per share in cash and one contingent value right of $5 per share which represents an implied equity value of $7.8 billion payable at the close. The two companies have been collaborating since 2022 on a chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy for patients with multiple myeloma. The therapy, anitocabtagene autoleucel (anito-cel), targets the B cell maturation antigen, which is universally expressed on malignant plasma cells but not on vital tissues.
Clinical studies to date, suggest the product could play an important role as a fourth-line treatment for patients with relapsed or refractory myeloma. These include data from a Phase 1 study and a pivotal Phase 2 study which the company has shared with the Food and Drug Administration. The FDA has issued an anticipated date for a regulatory decision of 23 December.
“Beyond the potential launch this year, anito-cel could become a foundational treatment for multiple myeloma over time, including [in] earlier lines of therapy,” said Daniel O’Day, Gilead’s chief executive, in a prepared statement. Gilead also said that Arcellx’s CAR technology platform could potentially be used for newer cell and bispecfic therapies.
Gilead was one of the first large pharma companies to invest in cell therapies. In 2017, it acquired Kite Pharma for $11.9 billion. Today, it markets two Kite-developed products for blood cancers, Yescarta and Tecartus.
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