Gilead Sciences, Inc. GILD announced that it will acquire a 49.9% equity interest in Tizona Therapeutics, Inc., a privately-held developer of first-in-class cancer immunotherapies, for $300 million. In addition, Gilead will have an exclusive option to buy the rest of the company for up to $1.25 billion. This option will include an option exercise fee and potential future milestone payments.
Shares of the company have increased 20.5% year to date compared with the industry’s growth of 10.6%.
Tizona develops first-in-class medicines to bring in transformations for people suffering from cancer. Its lead pipeline candidate is TTX-080. TTX-080 is a potential first-in-class medicine that targets HLA-G. The characteristic of HLA-G is that it can address tumors that do not respond to current anti-PD-(L)1 treatments. It also deepens responses in tumors that are sensitive to anti-PD-(L)1 therapies.
However, Gilead can exercise this option to acquire the remainder of Tizona following the readout of a phase Ib study of the latter’s investigational antibody, TTX-080, or earlier, if the former decides to do so.
The investigational new drug (IND) application for TTX-080 has been cleared by the FDA. Tizona plans to initiate a phase I study evaluating TTX-080 both as a monotherapy and in combination with other agents in patients with advanced cancers.
Gilead will have the right to appoint two individuals to Tizona’s board of directors upon the closing of the transaction. The deal is expected to close in the third quarter of 2020.
Tizona’s investigational first-in-class anti-CD39 antibody, TTX-030, developed in partnership with AbbVie ABBV, will be divested before the closing of this transaction. TTX-030 is not part of this agreement.
By acquiring a stake in Tizona, Gilead plans to build a strong and diverse immuno-oncology pipeline as the former is developing first-in-class cancer immunotherapies that address tumors that do not respond to current checkpoint inhibitors. Thus, this could be an excellent opportunity for Gilead to develop novel therapies that will improve the treatment of cancer.
Zacks Rank & Stocks to Consider
Gilead currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
Some better-ranked stocks in the biotech sector are Emergent BioSolutions Inc. EBS and BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc. BMRN, both carrying a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
Emergent’s earnings per share estimates have increased from $3.14 to $4.23 for 2020 and from $3.35 to $4.63 for 2021 in the past 60 days.
BioMarin’s earnings per share estimates have increased from $1.51 to $1.56 for 2020 and from $2.46 to $2.79 for 2021 in the past 60 days.
Just Released: Zacks’ 7 Best Stocks for Today
Experts extracted 7 stocks from the list of 220 Zacks Rank #1 Strong Buys that has beaten the market more than 2X over with a stunning average gain of +24.1% per year. These 7 were selected because of their superior potential for immediate breakout.
See these time-sensitive tickers now >>
Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report
To read this article on Zacks.com click here.
Zacks Investment Research
