Gilead Announced Plans to Acquire CymaBay in a $4.3 Billion Deal

On Monday, February 12, 2024, Gilead Sciences, a major pharmaceutical manufacturer, announced its plans to acquire CymaBay Therapeutics, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company with a strong liver disease portfolio. The companies entered a definitive agreement, resulting in Gilead acquiring CymaBay for $32.50 per share, amounting to approximately $4.3 billion in total equity.

The press release alludes to seladelpar as one of the primary appeals in the acquisition. Seladelpar is an investigational lead product in CymaBay’s portfolio. According to the company’s website, the drug is a potent, selective peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR) delta agonist for treating primary biliary cholangitis (PBC).

“We are looking forward to advancing seladelpar by leveraging Gilead’s long-standing expertise in treating and curing liver diseases,” said Daniel O’Day, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Gilead Sciences, in the press release. “Building on the strong research and development work by the CymaBay team to date, we have the potential to address a significant unmet need for people living with PBC and expand on our existing broad range of transformational therapies.”

PBC is a type of rare, chronic liver disease that affects roughly 130,000 people in the United States, with a more significant impact on women. The Cleveland Clinic notes that PBC is an inflammatory disease that causes degradation in the bile ducts, resulting in bile backing up in the liver, which damages healthy tissue.

Instead of healthy functional tissue, patients with PBC have scar tissue that causes the liver to lose its functionality.

The FDA has already accepted the New Drug Application for seladelpar and granted the drug priority review, with conclusions anticipated on August 14, 2024. Additionally, the drug already has FDA Breakthrough Therapy and Orphan Drug Designation for PBC patients without cirrhosis or with compensated cirrhosis.

“Today’s agreement with Gilead is the culmination of years of focus and determination at CymaBay to advance seladelpar and bring new hope to people living with PBC and their families,” said Sujal Shah, President and CEO at CymaBay Therapeutics. “Now that seladelpar has achieved priority review with the FDA, we are excited that Gilead, with its long-standing commitment to patients with liver disease, can apply its regulatory and commercial expertise to bring seladelpar as quickly as possible to people with PBC.”