Dr. Kate Hillier

Cooley advised Cell Design Labs on its sale to Gilead Sciences. The transaction is valued at up to $567 million and includes Gilead’s acquisition of all outstanding shares of Cell Design Labs, including the shares of Cell Design Labs held by Kite Pharma (a subsidiary of Gilead). Partners Ben Beerle and Jamie Leigh led a broad Cooley team advising Cell Design Labs.

Cooley advised Cell Design Labs, researcher and developer of cell-based therapies for cancer, in a series of investor and strategic partner financings totaling $34.4 million to fund the company’s startup operations. The investors, led by Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers, also include Kite Pharma, Osage, University Partners, Mission Bay Ventures and a group of private investors.

As part of the agreement, Cell Design Labs entered into their first strategic partnership with Kite Pharma for a research collaboration and license agreement to develop next generation, precision-controlled chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) product candidates that incorporate Cell Design Labs’ molecular “on/off switch” technology

The cross-practice team advising Cell Design Labs includes Danielle Naftulin for the financing component, and Bob Jones and Kate Hillier for the collaboration.

23andMe in its multi-year collaboration with GSK to focus on research and development of innovative new medicines and potential cures, using human genetics as the basis for discovery. In addition, GSK made a $300 million equity investment in 23andMe.

Cooley advised Vir Biotechnology on its $142.9 million initial public offering of 7,142,858 shares of common stock. Vir Biotechnology, whose securities now trade on Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol "VIR", is a clinical-stage immunology company focused on combining immunologic insights with cutting-edge technologies to treat and prevent serious infectious diseases. Partners Laura Berezin, Charlie Kim and Kristin VanderPas led the Cooley team.

Cooley advised Principia Biopharma on its agreement to sell all outstanding shares to Sanofi for $100 per share, representing an aggregate equity value of approximately $3.68 billion. Jamie Leigh, Ben Beerle, David Peinsipp and Anne Lieberman led the Cooley team advising Principia.