HQ Team
March 24, 2026: Gilead Sciences, Inc., will acquire Ouro Medicines, a privately held biotechnology company focused on developing T cell engager therapies for autoimmune diseases, for $2 billion, according to a statement.
Gilead bought a potentially game-changing, short-course injection called OM336 (also known as gamgertamig) that can powerfully reset the immune system in two rare but serious blood disorders. It adds to its inflammation portfolio.
The US Food and Drug Administration has granted Fast Track status to accelerate the medicine’s development and review, and granted an Orphan Drug Designation, because it treats rare diseases.
It is expected to start the final big clinical studies (registrational trials) in 2027.
$1.6 billion upfront
Gilead will acquire all outstanding equity of Ouro Medicines for a total of $1,675 million in upfront cash consideration, payable at closing, and up to $500 million in contingent milestone payments, according to the Gilead statement.
The medicine may be able to treat serious autoimmune diseases in which the body’s immune system attacks its own blood cells.
The injection, given under the skin, removes the B cells, or the immune cells that cause the problem. The patient does not have to take long-term medicines every day.
In early clinical trials, after one cycle of treatment, many patients with two diseases saw improvement. One set of patients had autoimmune haemolytic anaemia — where the immune system destroys red blood cells — and another had immune thrombocytopenia –where the immune system destroys platelets.
“This acquisition underscores our commitment to advancing transformative therapies for people living with serious autoimmune diseases,” said Dietmar Berger, MD, PhD, Chief Medical Officer of Gilead.
Complements Gilead’s inflammation pipeline
The experimental medicine, a clinical‑stage BCMAxCD3 T cell engager, “is a validated target with emerging data demonstrating potentially transformative outcomes in autoimmune diseases.
“BCMA-targeted T cell engagers represent a differentiated approach with the potential to induce durable disease control. This novel framework complements our expanding inflammation pipeline and reflects our strategy to invest in innovative science that may redefine standards of care.”
BCMA‑targeted T cell engagers are being investigated as a precision approach for severe inflammatory and autoimmune diseases by eliminating pathogenic B cells and plasma cells.
T cell engager therapies are a type of immunotherapy that harnesses the body’s own immune system—specifically cytotoxic T cells—to find and destroy cancer cells (or harmful cells in autoimmune diseases).
By redirecting a patient’s own T cells toward BCMA‑expressing plasma cells, clinical data suggest these agents may reduce inflammation, improve organ‑level disease, and, in some cases, enable an immune reset marked by durable, drug‑free remission without ongoing immunosuppression.
‘Multiple trials underway’
Unlike CAR-T cell therapy, which requires extracting, genetically modifying, and reinfusing a patient’s own T cells, T cell engagers are ready-made biologics given via infusion. They work immediately without personalised manufacturing.
T cells are fully activated only when the engager bridges both a T cell and a target cell, reducing off-target effects.T cell engagers are mainly approved for hematologic (blood) cancers, with growing success in some solid tumours.
Beyond cancer, researchers are exploring T cell engagers for autoimmune diseases (e.g., depleting autoreactive B cells in lupus or rheumatoid arthritis) by targeting similar markers.
“From the outset, we saw the potential for gamgertamig to redefine the standard of care for immune-mediated diseases,” said Jaideep Dudani, PhD, CoFounder and Chief Executive Officer of Ouro Medicines.
“Since then, we’ve taken meaningful steps to advance that vision, with multiple trials now underway.”
Gilead, Galapagos in talks
Gilead is currently in “advanced discussions” with Belgian-based Galapagos NV for a potential research and development collaboration on the acquired Ouro Medicines assets, according to the statement.
Galapagos would pay 50% of the upfront consideration and 50% of any contingent milestone payments payable to Ouro Medicines’ shareholders. Galapagos would absorb all of Ouro Medicines’ operating assets and retain its employees.
Gilead and Galapagos would also collaborate on the development of OM336, with Galapagos responsible for development costs through initiation of registrational studies. Registrational study costs would be shared equally between the parties.
Gilead would retain sole worldwide commercialisation rights (except in Greater China, where Keymed Biosciences has existing commercialisation rights) and would pay Galapagos royalties of 20%-23% of net sales.
The talks also focus on amending the legacy Galapagos Option License and Collaboration Agreement to allow up to $500 million of Galapagos’ current cash to be used freely by Galapagos, including up to $150 million for potential share repurchases.
