The Zhitong Finance App learned that Gilead Sciences (GILD.US) said on Thursday that it will purchase PepStar Therapeutics' oral inflammation drug program with a cash advance payment of 1.275 billion US dollars, which includes an experimental treatment for intestinal diseases. The deal comes after Gilead's experimental oral drug emvistegrast for chronic intestinal diseases announced positive interim results on Monday to add an inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) drug candidate to its product portfolio. Gilead said it believes HCXT-2001 has the potential to be developed alone or jointly with other projects in the pipeline.

Inflammatory bowel disease is a group of long-term diseases caused by inflammation of the digestive tract caused by the immune system. According to Gilead, HCXT-2001 was designed to block the IL-23 receptor — part of the immune pathway involved in inflammatory diseases.

Citibank analyst Geoffrey Meacham said that considering HCXT-2001 is still in early testing stages and there is no published clinical data, the $1.275 billion advance payment amount is impressive.

Meacham said the acquisition strengthens Gilead's inflammation and immunology strategy while providing it with an opportunity for long-term growth beyond its core HIV business.

Gilead said the deal is expected to close in the last quarter of this year, and the company will receive global equity in the project.

Disclaimer:Webull uses external vendor Google Translation Service for news translations where we endeavour to ensure these are correct, however, we recommend that you please double-check this information accordingly. Webull is not responsible for translation errors or issues.