Gilead Sciences raises stake in cancer-centric Arcus Biosciences to 33%

Arcus Biosciences

29/01/2024 23:17

Jan 29 (Reuters) - Gilead Sciences  GILD.O  said on
Monday it has raised its stake in Arcus Biosciences  RCUS.N  to
33% and expanded its presence in the drug developer's board to
three, deepening their collaboration in developing cancer drugs.
    It made an equity investment of $320 million, buying Arcus
stock at $21 per share, a 37.3% premium to its last closing
price. Shares of Arcus rose 11.8% to $17.2 after the bell. 
    Gilead said its Chief Commercial Officer Johanna Mercier
will join Arcus' board. The company had previously held a 20%
stake in Arcus, according to a brokerage note by Jefferies.
    The two companies said they would discontinue a late-stage
trial testing their candidate domvanalimab in combination with
another experimental drug zimberelimab to treat a type of
non-small cell lung cancer. 
    Domvanalimab belongs to a class of treatments known as
anti-TIGIT that targets a protein receptor on immune cells that
acts as a brake on the immune response.
    The move comes as the companies reprioritize the joint
domvanalimab development program to focus on advancing two
late-stage trials testing the drug in treating lung cancer and
gastrointestinal cancer. 
    The trials are expected to be fully enrolled by the end of
the year. A planned late-stage study in pancreatic cancer
evaluating investigational drug quemliclustat will also become
an Arcus independent study, the companies said. 

 (Reporting by Pratik Jain in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun Koyyur)
 ((Pratik.Jain@thomsonreuters.com;))