Another look at the news in week to April 8

Cash-rich Gilead Sciences has been expected to make acquisitions, particularly after Norbert Bischofberger, executive vice-president of research and development, said in an interview with the Financial Times late last year: “We have our eye on the external world — we have incredible cash flows and we are looking for opportunities.”

So, did it come up with the goods last week? Well, it announced plans to fork out as much as $1.2 billion (though only $400 million upfront) to acquire Nimbus Apollo, a subsidiary of Nimbus Therapeutics, which is aimed at expanding Gilead’s portfolio in the liver diseases arena. However, investors were expecting something much bigger, which might of course be in the pipeline.

Meantime, Jonathan Weber, writing on the Seeking Alpha blog, suggested that Gilead’s next acquisition could be United Therapeutics, which is working in a market Gilead knows as well - and in a market Gilead wants to expand into. United Therapeutics is active in two markets; the company sells drugs for the treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension [PAH] and drugs for the treatment of neuroblastoma. Pulmonary arterial hypertension is an indication Gilead is interested in, and is currently tests its GS-4997 candidate for the treatment of PAH.