--- title: "Galapagos (now Lakefront Biotherapeutics) in advanced talks" url: "https://aibio.space/news/galapagos-now-lakefront-biotherapeutics-advanced-talks-gilead-ouro/" publisher: "aibio.space (Biotech Investor Relations News)" date: "2026-03-24" section: "Mergers" tickers: "EURONEXT:LKFT" source: "https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1421876/000117184326001858/exh_991.htm" summary: "Gilead agreed to buy Ouro Medicines for $1,675 million in cash plus up to $500 million in milestones. Galapagos said it would pay 50% of the upfront cost u" --- By the aibio.space news desk. Sources - [Lakefront Biotherapeutics 6-K (2026-03-24)](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1421876/000117184326001858/exh_991.htm) - [Lakefront Biotherapeutics 6-K (2026-03-31)](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1421876/000119312526132908/d927249dex991.htm) - [Lakefront Biotherapeutics 6-K (2026-05-06)](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1421876/000117184326003080/exh_991.htm) [LKFT](https://aibio.space/companies/lakefront-biotherapeutics/) 2026-03-24 # Galapagos (now Lakefront Biotherapeutics) in advanced talks with Gilead on Ouro program Tickers [LKFT](https://aibio.space/companies/lakefront-biotherapeutics/) Gilead agreed to buy Ouro Medicines for $1,675 million in cash plus up to $500 million in milestones. Galapagos said it would pay 50% of the upfront cost under proposed terms, and no agreement between the two companies had been signed. ## Key facts - **Company**: Lakefront Biotherapeutics (EURONEXT: LKFT) - **News type**: Mergers - **Primary source**: [Lakefront Biotherapeutics 6-K (2026-03-24)](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1421876/000117184326001858/exh_991.htm) *Stock prices on an electronic board. CC0, via rawpixel. The picture shows the field, not the companies named.* Galapagos NV (Euronext and Nasdaq: GLPG) said on March 23, 2026 that it is in advanced partnership discussions with Gilead Sciences. The talks follow Gilead's definitive agreement to acquire Ouro Medicines, a privately held biotechnology company developing T cell engager therapies for autoimmune diseases. Galapagos issued the statement as inside information under the EU market abuse regulation. It says it intends to enter a strategic collaboration with Gilead following the Ouro acquisition, but no agreement has been signed. ### The Ouro acquisition and the proposed terms Gilead will acquire all of Ouro's outstanding equity for $1,675 million in cash, subject to customary adjustments and payable at closing, plus up to $500 million in contingent milestone payments. Closing depends on the expiration or termination of certain regulatory filings and other customary conditions. The terms Galapagos describes for its side are these. It would pay 50% of the upfront consideration and 50% of any milestone payments made to Ouro's shareholders. It would absorb substantially all of Ouro's operating assets and retain Ouro's employees to develop the assets. Galapagos would be responsible for development costs up to the start of registrational studies, and registrational costs would then be shared equally. Gilead would hold sole worldwide commercialization rights outside Greater China, where Keymed Biosciences has existing rights, and it would pay Galapagos royalties of 20%-23% of net sales. The arrangement would also amend the July 14, 2019 Option, License and Collaboration Agreement with Gilead. The release says an initial $500 million of Galapagos' cash would be exempted from that agreement, so the company could use it to acquire, initiate or develop programs on its own. Use of that cash for share repurchases, dividends or other distributions is capped at $150 million. The release is cautious about its own plans. It says no assurances can be given that a partnering arrangement will be agreed, or that its terms will not differ materially from those described. Galapagos must also complete its related party procedures before it enters a formal agreement with Gilead. ### What the asset has shown The asset is OM336, also called gamgertamig, a BCMAxCD3 bispecific T cell engager. The release says it is in ongoing Phase 1/2 studies and has demonstrated transformative efficacy and a differentiated safety profile after a single treatment cycle in autoimmune hemolytic anemia and immune thrombocytopenia. The FDA has granted it Fast Track and Orphan Drug designations for those two diseases, and registrational studies are expected to begin in 2027. The release gives no patient numbers, response rates or adverse event counts for those results. Galapagos chief executive Henry Gosebruch calls the program clinically de-risked and says more clinical information will come "at the appropriate time." Until that data is published, the efficacy language rests on the company's and Ouro's own description of early trials. Ouro, launched in 2025, is based in San Francisco. It was founded by Monograph Capital in partnership with GSK and is backed by TPG, NEA and Norwest. OM336 was in-licensed from Keymed Biosciences, which keeps Greater China rights. ### Advisers and the company's own history Morgan Stanley & Co., LLC is acting as financial advisor to Galapagos. Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP and Linklaters LLP are serving as its legal counsel. The release does not name advisers for Gilead or Ouro. Galapagos NV is a Belgian company incorporated in 1999. Its annual report on Form 20-F for 2024 says it acquired CellPoint B.V., a Dutch developer of CAR-T therapies, on June 21, 2022. The arrangement would free up to $500 million of Galapagos' cash for its own use, but it also means Galapagos pays half of the upfront cost of an asset that is still in early clinical development. [Report an error](https://aibio.space/reputation/#correction) ## Companies in this story LKFT Lakefront Biotherapeutics EURONEXT ยท Belgium Open the starter desk ## More in Mergers Mergers ### [InMed sets November 5 record date for CVRs tied to Mentari merger](https://aibio.space/news/inmed-sets-november-5-record-date-cvrs-tied-mentari-merger/) Oct 27, 2026 Mergers ### [Rallybio declares estimated $82.7 million cash distribution tied to Avenzo merger](https://aibio.space/news/rallybio-declares-estimated-82-7-million-cash-distribution-tied-avenzo/) Oct 26, 2026 Mergers ### [Skye Bioscience files preliminary proxy for its Redx Pharma acquisition](https://aibio.space/news/skye-bioscience-files-preliminary-proxy-redx-pharma-acquisition/) Oct 26, 2026 --- Source page: https://aibio.space/news/galapagos-now-lakefront-biotherapeutics-advanced-talks-gilead-ouro/. Facts in aibio.space stories are checked against company filings and releases; opinion is labelled. Cite as: aibio.space, "Galapagos (now Lakefront Biotherapeutics) in advanced talks", 2026-03-24, https://aibio.space/news/galapagos-now-lakefront-biotherapeutics-advanced-talks-gilead-ouro/