Gilead's Slow Road Is the Right Road

Gilead is sitting on the second biggest cash pile in biotech, $21 billion, and wants to become a cancer-drug power player. Investors are clamoring for proof it can still grow, as its blockbuster hepatitis C drugs start their inevitable decline.

But a mega-deal for another giant company seems unlikely, and the company isn't interested in any deal for the hottest current cancer treatments. Gilead is years behind on the first generation of immuno-oncology (IO) drugs, which weaken tumor defenses and help the immune system recognize cancer. Swarms of firms are chasing such targets. And the company is cautious about another new and increasingly crowded IO approach, so-called "cell therapies," which harvest human cells and genetically modify them to hunt cancers.