PharmaCyte Biotech Inc (PMCB)

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Big pharma and cell based therapies

Although the eventual integration of Kite Pharma's operations into Gilead's will probably look very different from the company's previous acquisitions, it is brimming with long-term potential. Global spending on cancer medicines is expected to surge from $107 billion in 2015 to around $150 billion in 2020.

If Gilead can secure reimbursement for axi-cel with terms similar to those proposed by Novartis for Kymriah, the candidate under review could generate nearly enough sales on its own to justify the $11.9 billion acquisition, but there could be much more. If the company's predictions about the role cell-based cancer therapies will play in the future turn out to be accurate, this could be one of the most important deals in the company's 30-year history.