On November 15, 2023, Arcellx, Inc. and Kite, a Gilead company, announced that they have expanded their existing collaboration that was originally announced in December 2022. Kite has exercised its option to negotiate a license for Arcellx's ARC-SparX program, ACLX-001, in multiple myeloma, which is comprised of ARC-T cells and SparX proteins that target BCMA. The companies have also expanded the scope of the collaboration for Arcellx's CART-ddBCMA to include lymphomas. Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati is advising Arcellx on the transaction.

Upon closing, Arcellx will receive a $200 million equity investment to purchase 3,242,542 shares of its common stock. Following this investment, Gilead's estimated ownership will be 13 percent. Arcellx will also receive an upfront non-dilutive cash payment of $85 million at closing and will be eligible for potential milestone payments, including the advancement of lymphoma and the license for ARC-SparX, as well as additional milestones, to offset prespecified development costs over a limited period of time. The transaction is expected to close around year-end 2023.

The Wilson Sonsini team advising Arcellx on the transaction includes:

Corporate
Dan Koeppen
Jennifer Fang
Rob Wernli
Michael Brito-Stamm
Drew Kohlmeier

Technology Transactions
Ian Edvalson
Norm Hovijitra

Patents and Innovations
Maya Skubatch
Chris McAndrew
Rex Watkins

For more information, please see Arcellx’s news release.