Gilead Sciences is paying $1.67 billion for a T-cell engager (TCE) company via a front-loaded deal that could also give new meaning to its partner Galapagos.
By acquiring GSK-founded Ouro Medicines, Gilead will get its hands on OM336, also known as gamgertamig, a BCMAxCD3 TCE aimed at autoimmune disorders. Ouro has taken OM336 into phase 1/2 studies, which have “demonstrated transformative efficacy and a differentiated safety profile” in conditions like autoimmune hemolytic anemia and immune thrombocytopenia—which both involve the autoimmune destruction of circulating blood cells—after a single treatment cycle, the pharma explained.
As well as the $1.675 billion in upfront cash, Gilead has pledged up to $500 million in potential milestone payments for Ouro.
The front-loaded nature of the deal means Gilead is handing over a lot of money before OM336 has even proven its worth in a phase 2 test. But the pharma has a plan—to rope in its partner Galapagos to pay half of the upfront and milestone payments.
Galapagos’ retreat from cell therapy last year had left the company without a purpose. But CEO Henry Gosebruch explained to Fierce Biotech in November that Gilead—which owns 25% of Galapagos—expected the Belgian biopharma to continue to seek new assets to rebuild the company.
Now, Galapagos could have a meaning once again. Gilead said yesterday that it is in advanced discussions for Galapagos to absorb “substantially all of Ouro Medicines’ operating assets and retain its employees.”
Under these terms, Galapagos would be responsible for developing OM336 through to the launch of registrational studies, which Gilead hopes to start in 2027. Gilead will retain worldwide commercialization rights—except in China, where Keymed Biosciences already has the license.
If OM336 makes it to market, Gilead would pay Galapagos royalties of between 20% and 23% of net sales.
The Ouro buyout comes a month after Gilead went big for another cell therapy company, striking a $7.8 billion deal for Arcellx in February. That acquisition brought Gilead full control of anitocabtagene autoleucel, a BCMA-directed CAR-T on the cusp of approval as a direct challenger to Johnson & Johnson and Legend Biotech’s multiple myeloma blockbuster Carvykti.
Gilead acquired cell therapy operations through its $11.9 billion Kite Pharma takeover in 2017 and already sells the CD19-directed treatments Tecartus and Yescarta. But the unit has struggled, with Gilead’s cell therapy sales falling 7% to $1.8 billion last year. BMO Capital Markets analysts said in a recent note to investors that the launch of anitocabtagene autoleucel could help Gilead’s cell therapy unit “regain its footing.”
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What sets yesterday’s deal apart is that Ouro’s TCE is being specifically targeted at autoimmune diseases—a hot area of cell therapy development.
Gilead Chief Medical Officer Dietmar Berger, M.D., Ph.D., said buying Ouro “underscores our commitment to advancing transformative therapies for people living with serious autoimmune diseases.”
“BCMA is a validated target with emerging data demonstrating potentially transformative outcomes in autoimmune diseases,” Dietmer said. “BCMA targeted T-cell engagers represent a differentiated approach with the potential to induce durable disease control.”
“This novel framework complements our expanding inflammation pipeline and reflects our strategy to invest in innovative science that may redefine standards of care,” he added.
Galapagos’ CEO Gosebruch also celebrated the chance for “meaningful flexibility in our relationship with Gilead.”
“As Galapagos established a relationship with Ouro this past year, we have been impressed with the emerging clinical profile of gamgertamig, its clinically de-risked lead program, and the capability of the Ouro team,” Gosebruch said in a statement. “This is an exciting day in the transformation of Galapagos.”
Ouro was launched by GSK and Monograph Capital in January 2025. The biotech arrived on the scene with $120 million in funds and the rights to OM336, which it licensed from China’s Keymed.
Ouro’s CEO Jaideep Dudani, Ph.D., a portfolio principal at Monograph, explained at the time that the company’s conviction in OM336 stemmed from the successful off-label use of BCMA-directed TCEs in treating B-cell-mediated diseases.
