Featured Company News – Gilead Sciences Announces Acquisition of Kite Pharma; Plans to Establish its Position in the Cell Therapy Sector for Cancer Treatment

LONDON, UK / ACCESSWIRE / August 30, 2017 / Pro-Trader Daily takes a look at the latest corporate events and news making the headlines for Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ: GILD) (“Gilead”), following which we have published a free report that can be viewed by signing up at http://protraderdaily.com/optin/?symbol=GILD. The Company announced on August 28, 2017, that it has entered into a definitive agreement with Kite Pharma, Inc., (NASDAQ: KITE) (“Kite”)to acquire the latter for $180.00 per share in cash. The transaction is valued at about $11.9 billion and was unanimously approved by both Company’s’ Boards of Directors. The transaction, according to Gilead, will create opportunities for the diversification of revenues, and is expected to be neutral to earning by year three and accretive thereafter. The agreement is expected to close in Q4 2017. For immediate access to our complimentary reports, including today’s coverage, register for free now at:

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The Announcement

Gilead views this acquisition as a step to establish itself as a leader in cellular therapy and develop a foundation to drive innovation for people with advanced cancers. The field of Cell Therapy, according to the Company, has advanced rapidly while leveraging science and technology to develop a potential cure for patients. Kite is an industry leader in the cell therapy segment, which uses a patient’s own immune cells to fight cancer. It has developed engineered cell therapies that express either a chimeric antigen receptor or an engineered T cell receptor, depending on the type of cancer.

Kite’s most advanced therapy candidate, axicabtageneciloleucel (axi-cel), is a CAR T therapy currently under priority review by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The therapy is expected to be the first to market as a treatment for refractory aggressive non-Hodgkin lymphoma and primary mediastinal B-cell lymphoma. The FDA has also set a target action date of November 29, 2017, while a marketing authorization application (MAA) has been filed for axi-cel for the treatment of relapsed/refractory DLBCL, TFL, and PMBCL with the European Medicines Agency (EMA).

Prospects of the Transaction

Gilead plans to bank on the near-term product opportunity to be generated from the Axi-cell approval for refractory aggressive lymphoma, expected in Q4 2017 in the US and in 2018 in Europe. Also, Kite holds a robust pipeline of multiple development programs to broadenaxi-cel utilization in earlier lines of therapy in aggressive NHL and other B-cell malignancies. Moreover, the Company’s portfolio of progressing TCRs for the potential use in solid tumors is set to expand Gilead’s presence in the cell therapy niche.

Gilead plans to develop an industry-leading cell therapy franchise where it plans to leverage Kite’s leading manufacturing capabilities and its portfolio of next-gen technologies and therapy candidates. Gilead announced that it plans to finance the transaction through a combination of cash on hand, bank debt, and senior unsecured notes. The tender offer, according to the Company, is not subject to a financing condition.

The Company

Gilead announced on August 10, 2017, that the US FDA had granted priority review for the Company’s New Drug Application for an investigational, fixed-dose combination of bictegravir, a novel investigational strand transfer inhibitor (INSTI), and emtricitabine/tenofovir alafenamide (200/25mg) (FTC/TAF), a dual-NRTI backbone, for the treatment of HIV-1 infection. Gilead initially filed the NDA for BIC/FTC/TAF with a Priority Review voucher on June 12, 2017, where FDA announced that it has set a target action date of February 12, 2018.

Last Close Stock Review

Gilead Sciences’ share price finished yesterday’s trading session at $75.74, climbing 1.41%. A total volume of 10.67 million shares have exchanged hands, which was higher than the 3-month average volume of 8.89 million shares. The Company’s stock price advanced 16.72% in the last three months and 7.91% in the past six months. Additionally, the stock gained 5.77% since the start of the year. Shares of the Company have a PE ratio of 8.22 and have a dividend yield of 2.75%. The stock currently has a market cap of $99.22 billion.

At the closing bell, on Tuesday, August 29, 2017, Kite Pharma’s stock fell slightly by 0.06%, ending the trading session at $177.95. A total volume of 9.41 million shares have exchanged hands, which was higher than the 3-month average volume of 1.37 million shares. The Company’s stock price soared 146.06% in the last three months, 123.50% in the past six months, and 206.60% in the previous twelve months. Moreover, the stock skyrocketed 296.86% since the start of the year. The stock currently has a market cap of $10.25 billion.

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