Global Collaboration Of Gilead Sciences With Galapagos For Filgotinib Benefits Patients

The global collaboration of Gilead Sciences with Galapagos will open new folds for both companies.

Gilead Sciences is an American-based biopharmaceutical company working to develop therapeutics. In December 2015, it entered in a deal with Galapagos for filgotinib and now, after passing through the screening of Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act, 1976, the companies have closed the deal of global collaboration for the newly discovered inhibitor that is under consideration for the cure of some serious inflammatory disease.

Galapagos is a Belgian-based biotechnology company with headquarters based in Mechelen, which discovers, innovates, and produces therapeutic. The Beligian-biotech giant discovered and produced JAK1 inhibitor in 2011 under the code GLPG0634. It has also discovered therapeutics for osteoarthritis, inflammatory diseases, ulcerative, and life-threatening diseases of lungs and digestive system.

According to company’s official website, the company has experimented filgotinib on around 700 patients. The experiment was carried out in different phases and by 2013, the Phase 2a study shows the rapid decrease in disease activity in the patients having mild to severe rheumatoid arthritis.

In future, filgotinib is likely to cure rheumatoid arthritis and Crohn’s disease. After carrying out various FITZYOR studies, Galapagos CSO, Piet Wigerinck, is confident about this inhibitor. He said, “Filgotinib is the first JAK inhibitor to show efficacy in Crohn’s disease, a disease with still few treatment options today.” 

Due to the favorable results and the potential future of the new drug, the US-based company has collaborated with Mechelen biotech. The collaboration entitles the Belgian-based company to receive $300 million in form of license fee payment.

Furthermore, Gilead has also made equity investment of $425 million in Galapagos by acquiring more than 6 million shares in the company with a share price of $63.53 – equivalent to €58 per share. As a result, it now has almost 15% holding in the company’s share capital. The transaction complied with Belgium Transparency Law, 2007.

Through this deal, Galapagos has an option to co-promote filgotinib in UK, Germany, Italy, France, Spain, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg. If it uses its option, then it will book sales in the country and the collaborating companies will share the profit(s) equally. The organization will also co-fund up to 20% global development activities while its partner biotech giant will ensure efficient manufacturing, fair marketing, and effective distribution.

Gilead’s current position in the financial market is strong. The company has a share price of $89.9. Although the stock price has declined by 2.11% however, the analysts have categorized Gilead stock as ‘Buy’, which is a good indicator for the management as well. 

General Electric's Headquarter To Be Housed In Boston

General Electric has plans to shift its headquarter from Boston to Connecticut

General Electric Company, has plans regarding moving its global headquarter to a new destination. The company has shortlisted Boston to be its next headquarter as per The Boston Globe. As per the sources, the management of the company approached the Mayor, the governmental staff and the governor reported on Wednesday morning. It is also speculated that an announcement will soon be made regarding the headquarter.

Boston is the final selection which has superseded the New York Providence along with other cities forcing the industrial giant to relocate. The location along with the details of the agreement have not been provided as of yet. However, if this turns out to be true then GE will become the largest company to be situated in Boston. Currently, General Electric which has annual revenues worth $150 billion is headquartered in Fairfield, Connecticut.

The company had plans to move in July earlier. This was because the local Connecticut government had increased the taxes and had also come up with a weird unitary tax that was implied on local corporations. The tax incorporates out of state revenues as well. The company’s headquarter was operational in the region for the past 42 years but now they have finally formed another committee that is devoted to finding a new home for the company.

Once the taxes were enforced, several corporations operational in the region raised their concerns over the matter and thus the local bodies decided to reduce a few of the taxes that were implied.

Previously, when the company was shortlisting its preference, it had several other countries as the possible host including Atlanta and other cities on the southern side. The company is already operational in Boston since it has its life sciences division harbored there. Moreover, some offices of the jet engine segment are also in Boston.  Apart from the jobs, the company’s headquarters will be offering the state with several corporate taxes as well.  Another reason why the company is eyeing on Boston is that the region has several highly qualified professionals which can take the company to newer heights in the times to come.

It seems like an extremely sane decision by the company to move its headquarter elsewhere. Connecticut has already made survival hard for corporations and it can also get more crucial in the times to come.  Thus, leaving the country at the right time will protect them from paying hefty taxes which can become quite unbearable if not dealt properly.  

Google and Fords Are Still Confused About Working Together

So far no confirmed news has surfaced regarding the partnership between the giants

The speculations regarding Ford Motors and Alphabet Inc. to collaborate and come up with a joint venture for the launch of autonomous cars during the Consumer Electric Show (CES) 2016 have not panned out. However, the news is not completely dead as of yet cites The Wall Street Journal.

It was recently published, that the company is still considering about the partnership where it has cited sources close to the companies. As per the deal, a new company will emerge where Ford Motors will manufacture the systems and software required for automotive parts while the search engine giant will be responsible to come up with the self driving software. This means that both the giants will focus on making the best use of their capabilities and deploy their strengths in benefit of the venture.

Google has immense experience when it comes to the experience it has in terms of its present autonomous car workforce. Other than that, Ford is a maestro when it comes to car manufacturing thus such collaboration will benefit both the companies.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the company has devised a detailed report where Bill Ford, the executive chairman has always deterred from technology as he wishes to protect the company’s name by avoiding disruptive technology. Moreover, he is more interested in the ownership of cars. According to The Verge, “Even as US car sales are hitting record highs. Services like Uber and the advent of fully autonomous driving make the concept of on-demand transportation far more practical, and as regulations give way to tech, that's generally seen as bad news for the legacy auto industry.”

The question here arises whether GOOG will benefit from this venture more or Fords. The answer is simple; a collaboration where Ford is making components for cars and Google is the software provider will not benefit Ford much. There are so many automotive based companies in contrast to tech firms that offer high end autonomous car driving systems are actually quite saturated in number. This makes Fords quite replaceable. So if the deal is not according to the likes of Google then Fords might have to suffer to a great extent as speculated.

So far both the tech companies have shown no sign that the partnership will take place this week during the Detroit Auto Show. However, there are several auto shows that are scheduled in the coming month which can reveal about more happenings. Thus, fingers are crossed regarding the collaboration.