Gilead To Acquire Calistoga

Gilead Sciences will acquire Calistoga Pharmaceuticals for $375 million, plus an additional $225 million if certain milestones are achieved. The transaction is expected to close in 2Q11.

Calistoga is a privately held biotechnology company focused on developing therapies to treat cancer and inflammatory diseases. Calistoga’s portfolio includes compounds that selectively target isoforms of phosphoinositide-3 kinase (PI3K), a central signaling pathway related to cellular proliferation, survival and trafficking. The company’s lead product candidate, CAL-101, is currently in Phase II studies in patients with refractory indolent non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (iNHL) and in combination with rituximab in treatment-naïve elderly patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). Calistoga’s development pipeline includes other selective PI3K inhibitors that are in preclinical development for the potential treatment of both cancer and inflammatory diseases.

“Oncology remains an area of significant unmet medical need and our increased understanding of the genetic basis of cancer allows for the development of disease specific targeted therapies. We are very encouraged by emerging clinical data for CAL-101, and this compound could represent an advance for the treatment of certain hematological cancers,” said Norbert W. Bischofberger, Ph.D., Gilead’s executive vice president, R&D and chief scientific officer. “Building on the recent acquisitions of CGI Pharmaceuticals and Arresto Biosciences, this acquisition serves to further broaden Gilead’s pipeline and expertise in the areas of oncology and inflammation.”