Galapagos NV is about to bury its recent turbulent past and sail off for the future with its $3 billion cash pile and the new name of Lakefront Biotherapeutics NV. The foundation for the transition was laid earlier this month in an arrangement with Gilead Sciences Inc., holder of 25% of Galapagos’ equity, to “co-parent” the assets of Ouro Medicines LLC, which Gilead is acquiring for up to $2.17 billion.

Gilead Sciences Inc. said after U.S. market close March 23 that it will acquire privately held Ouro Medicines LLC and its autoimmune BCMA/CD3 bispecific T-cell engager, gamgertamig, in a deal valued at $2.17 billion.

As biotech zombies with failed programs and money in hand go, Galapagos NV is a notable example, with a number of misses in the clinic, $3.1 billion in the bank, and a market capitalization of $2.19 billion.

Getting the Ensuring Pathways to Innovative Cures (EPIC) Act through the U.S. Congress to do away with the “pill penalty” in the Medicare drug price negotiations could require an epic effort, given the current politically fueled atmosphere on the Hill. With the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which created the negotiations, considered a signature achievement of the Biden administration, the negotiations have become, for many lawmakers, almost a sacred cow that can’t be touched. If anything, some of them want to expand the negotiations to more drugs and to the commercial market.

Galapagos NV is abandoning its small molecule roots to focus on cell therapy and at the same time splitting in two, with the spinout company, dedicated to acquiring a portfolio of assets, taking the lion’s share of the capital.