Gilead Sciences and Arcus Biosciences, a Hayward, California clinical-stage company focused on cancer immunotherapies, have closed their deal for a 10-year partnership, worth up to $2 billion, to co-develop and co-commercialize Arcus’ therapeutic product candidates. The companies announced the deal in late May (May 2020).

The closing of the transaction initiated a payment of $175 million by Gilead to Arcus. In addition, Gilead made an equity investment in Arcus of approximately $200 million by purchasing shares at a price of $33.54 per share. As a result of this investment and Gilead’s participation in Arcus’s follow-on offering on May 28, 2020, Gilead now owns nearly 8.2 million shares of common stock of Arcus, representing approximately 13% of Arcus’s outstanding shares.

Arcus has a clinical-stage pipeline of four immuno-oncology programs, as well as an oncology discovery pipeline with six preclinical compounds that target key biological pathways. In addition to small-molecule products, Arcus is advancing antibody products that target immune checkpoint receptors. Overall, the company has 10 ongoing clinical studies, including a Phase II study in first-line non-small cell lung cancer evaluating combinations of three Arcus product candidates: AB154, an investigational anti-TIGIT monoclonal antibody; AB928, an investigational A_2aR/A_2bR antagonist; and zimberelimab (AB122), an investigational anti-PD-1 monoclonal antibody.

Source: Gilead Sciences and Arcus Biosciences