New York, Feb 24, 2026, 05:15 (EST) — Premarket
- Arcellx shares are trading near Gilead’s $115-per-share cash offer after a 77% jump on Monday
- The deal adds a $5 contingent payout tied to anito-cel sales through 2029
- The next milestones are the tender offer steps and the FDA’s Dec. 23, 2026 decision deadline for anito-cel
Arcellx Inc (ACLX.O) shares were indicated around $113.75 in premarket trading on Tuesday, after the biotech closed up about 77% a day earlier on news that Gilead Sciences agreed to buy it. (Yahoo Finance)
The move has pulled the stock into the orbit of a deal price: $115 a share in cash, plus a possible extra $5 later. At this point the tape is less about trial headlines and more about whether the takeover lands on time and on terms.
This matters now because big drugmakers have been paying up for late-stage cancer assets and snapping up smaller partners, even as biotech valuations have been choppy. Gilead’s bid fits that pattern. (Financial Times)
Gilead said it is buying Arcellx to take full control of anito-cel, a CAR-T therapy — treatment made from a patient’s own immune cells that are engineered to attack cancer — for multiple myeloma. Daniel O’Day, Gilead’s CEO, said the company intends to “move with speed” behind the program, with the FDA’s decision deadline set for Dec. 23, 2026. (Gilead)
A filing showed Gilead plans to run the transaction through a tender offer, though it said the offer had not yet started. The document describes the consideration as $115 per share in cash plus a contingent value right, or CVR, tied to a future milestone.
Analysts have been quick to frame the drug’s edge as safety and execution, not just response rates. RBC Capital Markets analyst Brian Abrahams said anito-cel could have a “better safety profile” than Johnson & Johnson and Legend Biotech’s Carvykti, which Reuters reported generated about $1.9 billion in 2025 sales, while BMO’s Evan Seigerman said the deal removes up to $1.5 billion in potential milestone payments. (Reuters)
Multiple myeloma already has approved CAR-T options, and “fourth-line” use means patients have typically tried at least three prior therapies before reaching this step. That backdrop puts a premium on clean safety data and the ability to manufacture and deliver product without delays.
Arcellx is a clinical-stage biotech with its lead program aimed at BCMA, a common target in multiple myeloma, and other early-stage programs that include work in acute myeloid leukemia, according to its company profile. (Reuters)
But the stock is not at $115. Deals slip, regulators can slow the paperwork, and the tender offer still needs enough shareholders to hand over their stock. The $5 CVR is also not money in the bank — it pays only if anito-cel hits $6 billion of cumulative global net sales by the end of 2029.
For the next session, traders will watch for the formal start of the tender offer and Arcellx’s recommendation filing, along with any read-through on timing for a second-quarter close. The longer-dated catalyst is the FDA’s Dec. 23, 2026 action date for anito-cel. (Gilead)
