Gilead to snap up liver disease biotech CymaBay for $4.3B

Gilead is bet­ting $4.3 bil­lion on a biotech six months be­fore the FDA is ex­pect­ed to make an ap­proval de­ci­sion on its rare liv­er dis­ease drug can­di­date.

The Cal­i­for­nia big biotech will pay cash to buy CymaBay Ther­a­peu­tics, the com­pa­nies said Mon­day morn­ing. The deal is for $32.50 per share, a 27% pre­mi­um to the biotech’s clos­ing price on Fri­day.

CymaBay’s se­ladel­par cleared its Phase III test in pa­tients with pri­ma­ry bil­iary cholan­gi­tis last Sep­tem­ber, and the FDA set an ap­proval de­ci­sion dead­line of Aug. 14. The rare chron­ic dis­ease main­ly im­pacts women, about 130,000 in the US, ac­cord­ing to Gilead. PBC de­rails liv­er func­tion, with itch­ing and fa­tigue as ear­ly signs.

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