Deals
Gilead to Pay $400 Million for Nimbus's Liver Disease Drug
- Nimbus may get as much as $800 million in additional payments
- Drug is in development for non-alcoholic steatohepatitis
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Gilead Sciences Inc. will pay $400 million to buy a drug from closely held Nimbus Therapeutics LLC as the biotechnology giant expands its development portfolio of treatments for the fatty liver disease known as NASH.
Nimbus will get $400 million up front and as much as $800 million in potential milestones for the acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACC) inhibitor called NDI-010976. The drug is being developed for non-alcoholic steatohepatitis, or NASH, which affects 2 to 5 percent of American and is caused by fat buildup in the liver, according to the National Institutes of Health. It can eventually lead to scarring and damage of the organ. Analysts have estimated that the market for NASH drugs could eventually be worth $35 billion.