Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
With Eye On Trodelvy Cancer Drug, Gilead Buys Immunomedics For $21B
The Wall Street Journal: Gilead Reaches Deal To Buy Immunomedics For $21 Billion
Gilead Sciences Inc. will pay $21 billion to buy biotech Immunomedics Inc. and its prized breast-cancer drug, the company said Sunday, a sign of the value of the cancer-drugs business. Immunomedics has a market value of roughly $10 billion following a recent surge in its stock, meaning that Gilead is paying up to secure ownership of the company. Gilead agreed to pay $88 a share in cash for Immunomedics, whose shares closed at $42.25 Friday. That represents a 108% premium. (Lombardo and Rockoff, 9/13)
Reuters: Gilead To Buy Cancer Drugmaker Immunomedics For $21 Billion
Gilead Sciences Inc. will acquire biopharmaceutical company Immunomedics Inc IMMU.O for $21 billion, a move that will strengthen its cancer portfolio by gaining access to a promising drug, the two companies said in a joint statement on Sunday. The deal provides Gilead access to Immunomedics’ breast cancer treatment drug, Trodelvy, which was granted an accelerated FDA approval in April. (9/13)
Stat: Inside Gilead’s $21 Billion Purchase Of Immunomedics
Key negotiations that helped seal Gilead Science’s $21 billion purchase of Immunomedics, announced Sunday, took place on the makeshift patio of a suburban New Jersey restaurant during a socially distanced dinner two weeks ago, separated from a highway by some hedges. Immunomedics’ Executive Chairman Behzad Aghazadeh, eating at a restaurant for the first time since the Covid-19 pandemic struck, ordered lamb chops. Gilead CEO Daniel O’Day had steak. They requested a table away from other diners in order to be discrete. But the main thing on the menu, from Gilead’s perspective, was Trodelvy, Immunomedics’ recently approved drug to treat women with triple-negative breast cancer, a particularly aggressive form of the disease with few treatment options. (Feuerstein and Herper, 9/14)
Yahoo Finance: Gilead To Explore Trodelvy Drug Against Different Cancers After $21B Merger With Immunomedics
The merger deal will give Gilead access to Trodelvy – a drug for breast cancer, which received accelerated approval from the Food and Drug Administration in April. Although additional compliances for Trodelvy are underway, the company expects full approval in the U.S. sometime in the next quarter. According to the statement, Immunomedics would file for approvals with the European regulators in the first half of next year. (Raghunath Benzinga, 9/14)
