Shares in Arcus Biosciences Inc rose after Gilead Sciences Inc (NASDAQ:GILD, ETR:GIS) agreed to invest another $320 million as part of a tweaked collaboration agreement.
Extending a multiple-drug partnership that began in 2020, Gilead will buy Arcus stock at $21 per share, compared to Monday's close price of $15.30.
Looking to accelerate the growth of the companies’ joint development programs across various indications, Gildead will add a third nominated director to the Arcus board and agree "governance enhancements enabling streamlined decision-making".
Chief aims of the amended deal are to accelerate the pivotal trials of cancer treatment domvanalimab and to enable Arcus to push on across multiple pipeline assets, including both drugs over which Gilead has options and those it does not, said Gildead's chief medical officer, Merdad Parsey.
For domvanalimab, the focus is to try and potentially accelerate two phase-three studies, focused on lung and gastrointestinal cancer, which are both expected to be fully enrolled by year-end.
Arcus stock rose 5.4% to $16.12 in early trading while Gilead slipped 0.7% to $78.5.