Gilead Sciences to acquire Nimbus Apollo in $1.2bn deal

Nimbus will get $400m up front and up to $800m if certain development milestones are reached.

The Nimbus Apollo program includes lead candidate NDI-010976 and other preclinical ACC inhibitors to treat non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), and for the potential treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and other diseases.

After completion of the deal, Gilead will solely oversee future development and commercialization of NDI-010976 and other ACC inhibitors.

Nimbus Apollo will become a subsidiary of Gilead, whereas Nimbus Therapeutics will retain ownership of its other research and development subsidiaries.

Gilead Sciences executive vice president of research and development and chief scientific officer Norbert Bischofberger said: "The acquisition of Nimbus’ ACC-inhibitor program represents a timely and important opportunity to accelerate Gilead’s ongoing efforts to address unmet needs in NASH.

"These molecules will complement and further strengthen Gilead’s pipeline and capabilities to advance a broad clinical program in NASH that includes compounds targeting multiple key pathways involved in the pathogenesis of the disease."

Earlier this year, the US Food and Drug Administration granted fast track designation to NDI-010976, which is a potent, liver-targeted, allosteric inhibitor of two isoforms, ACC1 and ACC2.

NASH is a liver disease affecting about 15 million people in the US in which the ACC enzyme causes fat to accumulate in the liver, resulting in inflammation and scarring.

Image: Gilead Sciences has agreed to acquire Nimbus Therapeutics’ subsidiary Nimbus Apollo. Photo: courtesy of stockimages/FreeDigitalPhotos.net.