Vir Biotechnology to License TCEs to Gilead for $135 Million
Gilead takes an exclusive development and commercialization license on three next-generation dual-masked T-cell engagers while Vir keeps its own oncology pipeline.
Vir Biotechnology, Inc. (VIR) agreed to license three next-generation dual-masked T-cell engagers to Gilead Sciences (GILD) in a deal worth up to $135 million in upfront and near-term preclinical milestone payments, plus as much as $1.74 billion in later development, regulatory and commercial milestones and tiered high single-digit to low double-digit royalties on net sales.
The mixed-structure package includes $90 million of upfront consideration, of which $65 million is cash and $25 million is an equity investment at a 30% premium, and up to $45 million in potential near-term preclinical milestones.
Vir will apply its TCE discovery, dAIsY platform and PRO-XTEN masking technology to develop the three candidates for solid tumors. Gilead takes an exclusive license to develop and commercialize them.
“We believe TCEs have a powerful role to play in the future of immunotherapy to treat cancer. This collaboration with Gilead provides an opportunity to generate multiple differentiated candidates aimed at difficult-to-address solid tumors and to expand the potential impact of our science, while also advancing our own clinical oncology portfolio,” said Marianne De Backer, President and Chief Executive Officer of Vir Biotechnology.
The arrangement follows Vir’s February 2026 global collaboration with Astellas on VIR-5500, a PSMA-targeting PRO-XTEN dual-masked T-cell engager for prostate cancer, in which Vir was to receive $335 million in upfront and near-term milestone payments and up to an additional $1.37 billion in later milestones. That partnership was a co-development and co-commercialization arrangement, with Astellas leading U.S. commercialization and taking exclusive ex-U.S. rights. The Gilead deal is an exclusive license of newly developed candidates rather than a split of an existing program.
Vir, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on infectious diseases and cancer, has exclusive rights to the universal PRO-XTEN masking platform for oncology and infectious disease. Its clinical oncology portfolio includes dual-masked T-cell engagers across validated solid-tumor targets.
Gilead, a large pharmaceutical company, had cash and cash equivalents of $3.179 billion as of June 30, 2026. For the six months ended June 30, 2026, the company recorded acquired in-process research and development expenses of $11.290 billion and in-process research and development impairments of $1.750 billion, and used $11.318 billion of cash for acquisitions, including in-process research and development, net of cash acquired. Those figures coincided with Gilead booking a $10.496 billion net loss for the three months ended June 30, 2026.
Vir will continue to advance its own clinical oncology portfolio while Gilead develops and commercializes the three licensed dual-masked T-cell engagers.