The company paid twice Immunomedics’ last closing stock price to access Trodelvy, approved for triple-negative breast cancer with potential in other solid tumors as monotherapy and in combinations.

The big biotech will pay $300m to acquire a 49.9% equity interest in the cancer immunotherapy startup with a buyout option. It is one of several immune checkpoints Gilead has secured access to this year.

Deal snapshot: Pionyr’s top two candidates are preclinical, but Gilead buys near 50% stake in the hope that myeloid tuners will work in combination with anti-PD-L1 agents in solid tumors.

Pharma and biotech companies raised $4.6bn in the first quarter, exceeding the 2017 quarterly average by $1.4bn. But while the money invested soared, the number of companies funded sank. In public financings, MorphoSys commences US IPO and Mylan sells $1.5bn in notes.