Gilead buys anti-cancer gene-editing technology
Gilead Sciences is expanding its investments in cancer treatments, announcing Thursday that its subsidiary Kite will pay biotech company Sangamo Therapeutics up to $3 billion for its gene-editing technology.
The Bay Area companies will use the technology to jointly develop oncology therapies, focusing initially on blood cancers.
It is the latest move by Gilead, the Foster City biopharmaceutical giant that has long dominated the market for HIV and hepatitis C drugs, to add gene therapy for cancer to its portfolio. San-
gamo, based in Richmond, will receive $150 million up front and up to $3 billion in subsequent payments if it meets regulatory and commercial milestones.
Last year, Gilead made its largest acquisition in company history, a $12 billion deal to buy Kite Pharma, a Santa Monica firm that makes Yescarta, a cutting-edge cell therapy treatment for nonHodgkin’s lymphoma. It quickly followed with a second acquisition, the Emeryville startup Cell Design Labs, for a price that could reach $587 million if milestones are hit.
The goal of both deals was to bolster Gilead’s development of an emerging cancer therapy known as CAR T, which involves extracting a patient’s own living cells from their blood, genetically modifying them and reintroducing them to the person’s body to attack cancer cells.
The Sangamo deal could advance Gilead’s cell-therapy portfolio a step further because its technology enables a safer transfer of cells from healthy donors to sick patients. This transfer would be faster than the 17 days it takes to complete the process of extracting, modifying and reintroducing a patient’s own cells into their bodies with Yescarta. Sangamo’s gene-editing technology enables the removal of proteins from the donor’s cells that could potentially harm the recipients’ cells and tissues.
“We look forward to working with Sangamo to accelerate our efforts to develop next-generation” cell therapies, and other treatments for people living with cancer,” Gilead CEO John Milligan said in a statement.
Sangamo stock closed at $25.40, a 17-year high and a 14 percent jump from Wednesday. Gilead stock closed at $79.40, a 2 percent dip from Wednesday.