Gilead Gets Triangle, and a Product It Can Leverage

Executive Summary

Gilead's acquisition of Triangle is a clear example of a strong company buying a weak company's assets. Triangle lost the market's confidence, and its partner Abbott, through prolonged clinical difficulties that sapped its cash. Gilead bought the company primarily to get an AIDS drug, Coviricil, that will likely soon win US marketing approval. Gilead aims to co-formulate that compound with its own AIDS drug Viread, to create the first one-pill, once-daily combination therapy for AIDS. Gilead has earned a reputation for finding under-valued assets and turning them into value drivers for itself. Looks like it's at it again.