UPDATE: Gilead to Buy YM BioSciences for $2.95/Share in Cash

Gilead Sciences, Inc. (Nasdaq: GILD) and YM BioSciences Inc. (NYSE: YMI,TSX: YM) announced today that the companies have signed a definitive agreementunder which Gilead will acquire YM for U.S.$2.95 per share in cash. Thetransaction has received the unanimous approval of YM's Board of Directors,and values YM at approximately U.S.$510 million, with YM reporting C$125.5million in cash and cash equivalents as of September 30, 2012. Gilead plans tofund the acquisition with cash on hand. The transaction is expected to closein the first quarter of 2013.YM's lead drug candidate, CYT387, is an orally-administered, once-daily,selective inhibitor of the Janus kinase (JAK) family, specifically JAK1 andJAK2. The JAK enzymes have been implicated in a number of disorders includingmyeloproliferative diseases, inflammatory disorders and certain cancers. YMhas reported positive results from a Phase 1/2 clinical trial of CYT387 in 166patients with myelofibrosis, a life-threatening myeloproliferative disease.Pending completion of the acquisition, Gilead intends to initiate a pivotalPhase 3 clinical trial of CYT387 in myelofibrosis in the second half of 2013.Myelofibrosis is a progressive, chronic bone marrow disorder in which themarrow is replaced by fibrous scar tissue, making it difficult for the bonemarrow to sufficiently produce blood cells, leading to anemia (low red bloodcell count) and thrombocytopenia (low blood platelet count), severeconstitutional symptoms and spleen enlargement. JAK inhibitors modulatecytokine-stimulated intracellular signalling and decrease the circulatinglevels of proinflammatory cytokines associated with the pathogenesis ofmyelofibrosis.