Pharma BD Deal Intelligence
The $567M synNotch/Throttle bet never produced a Gilead/Kite drug — the platform's biggest post-close event was being licensed OUT to a third-party spinout for autoimmune disease, not used internally for oncology as intended.
Full analysis, sources & comparables →Ranks computed across 828 graded deals (Critic + Outcome Score both present).
Gilead deepens its CAR-T push with the $567M Cell Design Labs deal, securing UCSF-derived synthetic biology platforms (synNotch, Throttle) for next-generation…
UCSF spinout Cell Design Labs, founded on Wendell Lim's synNotch and Throttle technologies, is acquired by Gilead/Kite for up to $567M — validating UCSF's…
Gilead goes full throttle on CAR-Ts with the $567M Cell Design Labs acquisition, signaling intent to extend beyond Yescarta into tunable and logic-gated cell…
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Gilead/Kite agreed to acquire Cell Design Labs, a UCSF spinout developing synthetic biology platforms (synNotch and Throttle) for next-generation engineered cell therapies. Total deal value up to $567M, including $175M for the ~87.6% Cell Design Labs equity Kite did not already own plus up to $322M in development milestones (~$567M aggregate). The deal expanded Kite's CAR-T platform technology toolkit.
The $567M synNotch/Throttle bet never produced a Gilead/Kite drug — the platform's biggest post-close event was being licensed OUT to a third-party spinout for autoimmune disease, not used internally for oncology as intended.
Assessment window: 5yr post-close.
| Deal | Year | Value | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gilead Sciences Inc. / Cell Design Labs, Inc. (this deal) | 2017 | $567M | 21 |
| Gilead Sciences Inc. / Pharmasset Inc. | 2011 | $11.2B | 98 |
| Gilead Sciences Inc. / Triangle Pharmaceuticals Inc. | 2002 | $464M | 96 |
| Gilead Sciences Inc. / CymaBay Therapeutics | 2024 | $4.4B | 76 |
| Gilead Sciences Inc. / Nurix Therapeutics Inc. | 2019 | $2.3B | 69 |
| Gilead Sciences Inc. / Immunomedics Inc. | 2020 | $21.0B | 68 |
| Gilead Sciences Inc. / Kite Pharma, Inc. | 2017 | $11.9B | 67 |
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