Confirming rumors that were swirling last week, Gilead Sciences announced it will buy cancer drug developer Forty Seven for $4.9 billion in cash.
California-based Forty Seven is a clinical-stage immuno-oncology company focused on developing novel checkpoint therapies to activate macrophages and fight against cancer. The selling point for the Gilead buy was the addition of Forty Seven’s investigational lead product candidate, magrolimab. Magrolimab is a monoclonal antibody in clinical development for the treatment of several cancers for which new, transformative medicines are urgently needed, including myelodysplastic syndrome, acute myeloid leukemia and diffuse large B-cell lymphoma.
Magrolimab has the potential to be a first-in-class therapy.
The transaction was unanimously approved by both the Gilead and Forty Seven Boards of Directors and is anticipated to close during the second quarter of 2020.
Read the press release
