Gilead has agreed to acquire Arcellx in a deal worth $7.8bn, as the drugmaker looks to add a CAR T-cell therapy for blood cancer treatment on the cusp of approval to its portfolio.
As per the agreement, Gilead will pay $115 per share, as well as a one contingent value right of $5 each. The deal is expected to close in Q2 2026.
The acquisition marks the culmination of a period of collaboration between the two companies. In 2022, Gilead, via its subsidiary Kite, entered a research and development partnership with Arcellx to advance the latter’s anitocabtagene autoleucel (anito-cel), an investigational BCMA-directed CAR T-cell therapy for patients with multiple myeloma. Gilead had invested in the biotech as part of the arrangement and, having injected further cash in 2023, currently holds a 11.5% share in Arcellx.
Anito-cel, delivered ex vivo, is currently under review by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), with an anticipated Prescription Drug User Fee Act (PDUFA) action date of 23 December 2026. If approved, it will be available as a fourth-line treatment for patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma. The $5 contingent value right (CVR) included in the acquisition will be paid out if global anito-cel sales hit $6bn by the end of 2029.
In a research note, William Blair analysts said: “We also model anito-cel achieving $7.8bn in cumulative global sales by year-end 2029, therefore we view the CVR as likely to be achieved.”
Gilead’s CEO Daniel O’Day said: “This agreement reflects our conviction in the potential of anito-cel and our intention to move with speed so we can make the most of that potential for patients with multiple myeloma.
“Beyond the potential launch this year, anito-cel could become a foundational treatment for multiple myeloma over time, including earlier lines of therapy. In addition, the anito-cel D-domain BCMA binder could be important to our work in in vivo cell therapy, further strengthening our potential in oncology and inflammation,” O’Day added.
CAR T is a type of personalised immunotherapy that treats certain blood cancers by reprogramming a patient’s own T-cells to recognise and destroy cancer cells. While all approved CAR-T products are ex vivo, pharma interest toward in vivo cell therapies has grown, which some investors are touting as the future of CGT. This route of delivery has dominated M&A activity in the CAR-T arena in the past year.
The most recent big pharma company to ink a deal was Eli Lilly, which acquired Orna Therapeutics and its range of circular RNA (circRNA) and lipid nanoparticle-based therapies for $2.4bn in February 2026. Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS) made a similar move by laying out $1.5bn to acquire Orbital Therapeutics and its investigational, RNA-based in vivo CAR-T medicines in October 2025. In July 2025, AbbVie made an in vivo play through its $2.1bn, “high-risk, high-reward” buyout of Capstan Therapeutics. Unlike many companies in the space, which are focused on developing CAR Ts for oncology, Capstan is progressing its pipeline of in vivo therapeutics for the treatment of B-cell mediated autoimmune diseases.
