Gilead Expands Pipeline Through Cell Therapy M&A, Prepares for Tender Offer

Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ: GILD) announced on February 22 that, through its subsidiary Ravens Sub, it has entered into a tender and support agreement with major shareholders of AcellX to back the cash tender offer and merger. Under the agreement, the shareholders will exercise their voting rights to reject competing bids and agree to certain restrictions on share and equity holdings.

In its fourth-quarter and full-year 2025 results released on February 10, Gilead reported quarterly revenues of $7.9 billion (approximately KRW 10 trillion) and full-year revenues of $29.4 billion (approximately KRW 39 trillion). The performance reflected growth in its HIV and liver disease portfolios, offset by a decline in sales of its COVID-19 treatment Veklury.

On February 5, the company disclosed that CEO Daniel O’Day exercised stock options granted under a four-year vesting schedule and sold an equivalent number of common shares, realizing option gains in the tens of millions of dollars.

According to Gilead’s recently filed annual report, excluding its existing shareholding, the company is pursuing an approximately $7 billion (around KRW 9 trillion) transaction to acquire AcellX. The proposed cash tender offer would pay $115 per share upfront, with the potential for up to an additional $5 per share in future milestone payments tied to revenue achievements.

Despite higher sales of key HIV therapy Biktarvy and treatments for liver disease, the stock price dipped slightly on the day of the earnings release, as investors weighed discussions over future guidance and business structure.

Gilead is a global biopharmaceutical leader with strengths in antiviral treatments for HIV, viral hepatitis and COVID-19, and has been actively expanding its oncology and cell therapy pipeline. In particular, amid intensifying competition in BCMA-targeted CAR-T therapies for blood cancers such as multiple myeloma, the pursuit of the AcellX acquisition is viewed as part of a wider big-pharma M&A trend aimed at strengthening cell therapy capabilities by securing candidates like anito-cel.