Multinational Pharmaceutical Company Initiates $10 Billion Acquisitions of AcelRx... Executives Also Sell Shares

On February 22, Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ: GILD), through its subsidiary Ravens Sub, entered into a tender and support agreement with certain Arcellx shareholders under which those shareholders have agreed to tender all of their Arcellx common shares and specified equity awards into Gilead’s proposed tender offer, to vote in favor of the merger, and to oppose any competing acquisition proposals. The agreement contains restrictions on share transfers, limits on negotiations with third parties, and partial waivers of shareholder rights. As part of Gilead’s announced acquisition of Arcellx, the transaction is valued at up to $7.8 billion—approximately KRW 10 trillion.

On February 17, Chief Commercial and Corporate Communications Officer Johanna Mercy exercised stock options to acquire common shares and then sold 28,000 shares, generating about $4.3 million (roughly KRW 5.8 billion) in cash. That same day, Chief Financial Officer Andrew Dickinson, under a pre-set SEC Rule 10b5-1 trading plan, sold 3,000 shares for approximately $460,000 (around KRW 600 million). After these sales, Mercy and Dickinson still hold roughly 120,000 and 160,000 shares respectively, leaving their remaining equity stakes valued at about KRW 25–35 billion apiece.

On February 10, Gilead reported its fourth-quarter and full-year 2025 results, with revenues and net income surpassing market expectations. The following day, the stock climbed intraday to about $155, marking an all-time high. On March 10, Jefferies initiated coverage of Gilead with a Buy rating, and a string of positive analyst reports and price-target upgrades by major brokerages has since followed.

Headquartered in Foster City, California, Gilead is a large biopharmaceutical company whose antiviral and oncology portfolio—spanning HIV, hepatitis B and C, influenza, and COVID-19 treatments—is marketed in over 35 countries. In the U.S. biotech and pharmaceutical industry, competition for acquisitions among major players is intensifying around growth areas such as HIV therapies and cell and gene therapies, and multibillion-dollar deals like Gilead’s purchase of Arcellx are accelerating a reshaping of the oncology and cell-therapy landscape.