Gilead Sciences Inc (NASDAQ:GILD) shares ticked up in New York as it reported that the FDA had approved its Yescarta - a lymphoma therapy drug.
This is a huge deal for the pharma group, which validates its US$12bn acquisition this summer of Kite Pharma Inc, as this was one of its drugs.
The treatment is what's called a CAR-T drug for use in patients with large B-cell lymphoma that has relapsed or is resistant after two or more lines of therapy.
Put simply, this is a type of product, which aims to help the immune system identify and target cancer cells. It is the latest in new trends in medicine.
Significantly, it is the first CAR-T drug approved for those patients.
. @US_FDA approves 2nd CAR-T cell therapy, this one for type of lymphoma https://t.co/CgERymMnNw #biotech @GileadSciences @KitePharma
— ThePharmaLetter (@ThePharmaLetter) 19 October 2017
The drug will be marketed as Yescarta and sell at a price of US$373,000.
Broker Jefferies analyst Michael Yee said Yescarta could generate sales of up to an eye-watering US$250 million in 2018.
Gilead's chief executive John Milligan said the drug's FDA approval was an "important day" for lymphoma patients who had "limited" treatment options.
He said the advancement of cell therapy research, which produced Yescarta, will help bring more options to patients with other forms of cancer.
Gilead shares added 1.69$ to US$81.36 in New York.