<SEC-DOCUMENT>0001104659-24-032743.txt : 20240422
<SEC-HEADER>0001104659-24-032743.hdr.sgml : 20240422
<ACCEPTANCE-DATETIME>20240311083523
<PRIVATE-TO-PUBLIC>
ACCESSION NUMBER:		0001104659-24-032743
CONFORMED SUBMISSION TYPE:	CORRESP
PUBLIC DOCUMENT COUNT:		2
FILED AS OF DATE:		20240311

FILER:

	COMPANY DATA:	
		COMPANY CONFORMED NAME:			GILEAD SCIENCES, INC.
		CENTRAL INDEX KEY:			0000882095
		STANDARD INDUSTRIAL CLASSIFICATION:	BIOLOGICAL PRODUCTS (NO DIAGNOSTIC SUBSTANCES) [2836]
		ORGANIZATION NAME:           	03 Life Sciences
		IRS NUMBER:				943047598
		STATE OF INCORPORATION:			DE
		FISCAL YEAR END:			1231

	FILING VALUES:
		FORM TYPE:		CORRESP

	BUSINESS ADDRESS:	
		STREET 1:		333 LAKESIDE DR
		CITY:			FOSTER CITY
		STATE:			CA
		ZIP:			94404
		BUSINESS PHONE:		6505743000

	MAIL ADDRESS:	
		STREET 1:		333 LAKESIDE DR
		CITY:			FOSTER CITY
		STATE:			CA
		ZIP:			94404

	FORMER COMPANY:	
		FORMER CONFORMED NAME:	GILEAD SCIENCES INC
		DATE OF NAME CHANGE:	19930328
</SEC-HEADER>
<DOCUMENT>
<TYPE>CORRESP
<SEQUENCE>1
<FILENAME>filename1.htm
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<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0"><IMG SRC="tm245976d6_correspimg001.jpg" ALT="">&nbsp;</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;</P>

<TABLE CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0" STYLE="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%">
  <TR STYLE="vertical-align: bottom">
    <TD STYLE="white-space: nowrap; width: 70%"><FONT STYLE="font-size: 10pt"><B>FOIA CONFIDENTIAL TREATMENT REQUEST</B></FONT></TD>
    <TD STYLE="font: bold 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; text-align: right; white-space: nowrap; width: 30%"><FONT STYLE="font-size: 10pt">CONFIDENTIAL
    TREATMENT REQUESTED</FONT></TD></TR>
  <TR STYLE="vertical-align: bottom">
    <TD STYLE="white-space: nowrap"><FONT STYLE="font-size: 10pt">The entity requesting confidential treatment is:</FONT></TD>
    <TD STYLE="font: bold 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; text-align: right; white-space: nowrap"><FONT STYLE="font-size: 10pt">BY
    GILEAD SCIENCES, INC.</FONT></TD></TR>
  <TR STYLE="vertical-align: bottom">
    <TD STYLE="white-space: nowrap"><FONT STYLE="font-size: 10pt">Gilead Sciences, Inc.</FONT></TD>
    <TD STYLE="font: bold 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; text-align: right; white-space: nowrap"></TD></TR>
  <TR STYLE="vertical-align: bottom">
    <TD STYLE="white-space: nowrap"><FONT STYLE="font-size: 10pt">333 Lakeside Drive</FONT></TD>
    <TD STYLE="font: bold 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; text-align: right; white-space: nowrap"><FONT STYLE="font-size: 10pt">&nbsp;</FONT></TD></TR>
  <TR STYLE="vertical-align: bottom">
    <TD STYLE="white-space: nowrap"><FONT STYLE="font-size: 10pt">Foster City, California 94404</FONT></TD>
    <TD STYLE="font: bold 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; text-align: right; white-space: nowrap"><FONT STYLE="font-size: 10pt">&nbsp;</FONT></TD></TR>
  <TR STYLE="vertical-align: bottom">
    <TD STYLE="white-space: nowrap"><FONT STYLE="font-size: 10pt">Telephone: 650-574-3000</FONT></TD>
    <TD STYLE="font: bold 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; text-align: right; white-space: nowrap"><FONT STYLE="font-size: 10pt">&nbsp;</FONT></TD></TR>
  </TABLE>
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<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;</P>

<P STYLE="text-align: center; font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt"><B>CERTAIN PORTIONS OF THIS LETTER HAVE BEEN OMITTED FROM THE VERSION
FILED VIA EDGAR. CONFIDENTIAL TREATMENT HAS BEEN REQUESTED WITH RESPECT TO THE OMITTED PORTIONS. INFORMATION THAT WAS OMITTED IN THE EDGAR
VERSION HAS BEEN NOTED IN THIS LETTER WITH A PLACEHOLDER IDENTIFIED BY THE MARK &ldquo;[***]&rdquo;.</B></P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0"></P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0"><U>VIA EDGAR SUBMISSION</U></P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0"><U>Pursuant to Rule 83 by Gilead Sciences, Inc.</U></P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;</P>

<TABLE CELLSPACING="0" CELLPADDING="0" STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; width: 100%; border-collapse: collapse">
  <TR STYLE="vertical-align: top">
    <TD COLSPAN="2"><FONT STYLE="font-family: Times New Roman, Times, Serif; font-size: 10pt">March&nbsp;11, 2024</FONT></TD></TR>
  <TR STYLE="vertical-align: top">
    <TD COLSPAN="2">&nbsp;</TD></TR>
  <TR STYLE="vertical-align: top">
    <TD STYLE="width: 4%"><FONT STYLE="font-family: Times New Roman, Times, Serif; font-size: 10pt">Re:</FONT></TD>
    <TD STYLE="width: 96%"><FONT STYLE="font-family: Times New Roman, Times, Serif; font-size: 10pt"><B>CymaBay Therapeutics,&nbsp;Inc.<BR>
Schedule TO-T filed on February&nbsp;23, 2024<BR>
Filed by Pacific Merger Sub,&nbsp;Inc. and Gilead Sciences,&nbsp;Inc.<BR>
File No.&nbsp;005-87950</B></FONT></TD></TR>
  </TABLE>
<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0">Mr.&nbsp;Daniel Duchovny<BR>
Special Counsel<BR>
Division of Corporation Finance</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0">Office of Mergers and Acquisitions<BR>
United States Securities and Exchange Commission<BR>
100 F Street, N.E.<BR>
Washington, D.C. 20549-3628</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0">Dear Mr.&nbsp;Duchovny:</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0">This letter responds to comments of the Staff (the &ldquo;<B>Staff</B>&rdquo;)
of the Securities and Exchange Commission (the &ldquo;<B>Commission</B>&rdquo;) contained in the letter from the Staff dated March&nbsp;1,
2024 (the &ldquo;<B>Comment Letter</B>&rdquo;) regarding the above-referenced Schedule TO-T of Gilead Sciences,&nbsp;Inc. (&ldquo;<B>Parent</B>&rdquo;
or &ldquo;<B>Gilead</B>&rdquo;) and Pacific Merger Sub,&nbsp;Inc. (&ldquo;<B>Purchaser</B>&rdquo;) as filed with the Commission on February&nbsp;23,
2024 (the &ldquo;<B>Schedule TO</B>&rdquo;). In conjunction with this letter, Parent and Purchaser are filing via EDGAR, for review by
the Staff, Amendment No.&nbsp;2 to the Schedule TO (&ldquo;<B>Amendment No.&nbsp;2</B>&rdquo;).</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0">Please find enclosed three copies of Amendment No.&nbsp;2. The changes
reflected in Amendment No.&nbsp;2 include those made in response to the comments of the Staff in the Comment Letter. The responses set
forth in this letter are numbered to correspond to the numbered comments in the Comment Letter.</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0">Due to the commercially sensitive nature of information contained in
this letter, this submission is accompanied by Parent&rsquo;s request for confidential treatment for selected portions of this letter.
Parent has filed a separate letter with the Office of Freedom of Information and Privacy Act Operations in connection with the confidential
treatment request pursuant to Rule 83 of the Commission&rsquo;s Rules on Information and Requests, 17 C.F.R. &sect; 200.83. For the Staff&rsquo;s
reference, we have enclosed a copy of Parent&rsquo;s letter to the Office of Freedom of Information and Privacy Act Operations as
well as a copy of this correspondence, marked to show the portions redacted from the version filed via EDGAR and for which Parent
is requesting confidential treatment.</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0">For your convenience, we have also included the text of the applicable
comment in the Comment Letter in bold immediately before each response. All defined terms in this letter have the same meaning as ascribed
to them in the Schedule TO, unless otherwise indicated.</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0"><U>Schedule TO-T</U></P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;</P>

<TABLE CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0" STYLE="width: 100%; font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt"><TR STYLE="vertical-align: top">
<TD STYLE="width: 0.25in"></TD><TD STYLE="width: 0.25in"><B>1.</B></TD><TD><B>We note that Ms.&nbsp;Dorling is both an executive at Gilead and a director at CymaBay. Please provide us your detailed legal analysis
of the application of Rule&nbsp;13e-3 with respect to the current transaction, given your affiliation with CymaBay.</B></TD></TR></TABLE>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0 0pt 0.5in">For the reasons set forth below, Parent respectfully advises
the Staff that, after careful consideration of Rule&nbsp;13e-3 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the &ldquo;<B>Exchange Act</B>&rdquo;),
Rule&nbsp;13e-3 does not apply to the current transaction because (a)&nbsp;Parent is not an affiliate of CymaBay Therapeutics,&nbsp;Inc.
(&ldquo;<B>CymaBay</B>&rdquo; or the &ldquo;<B>Company</B>&rdquo;), (b)&nbsp;Ms.&nbsp;Dorling is not an affiliate of Parent, (c)&nbsp;Ms.&nbsp;Dorling
is not an affiliate of CymaBay, (d)&nbsp;Parent is not under common control with CymaBay, (e)&nbsp;the Merger and the other Transactions
were negotiated vigorously at arm&rsquo;s-length and do not implicate the policy concerns of Rule&nbsp;13e-3 of the Exchange Act, and
(f)&nbsp;CymaBay directors and management were not &ldquo;engaged&rdquo; in the current transaction. In addition, (1)&nbsp;CymaBay, and
not Parent, is the issuer of the Shares and (2)&nbsp;CymaBay is not a bidder in the tender offer in the current transaction. Set forth
below is Parent&rsquo;s detailed legal analysis as to why Rule&nbsp;13e-3 of the Exchange Act does not apply to the current transaction.</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0"></P>

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<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;&nbsp;</P>

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<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;</P>

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<TABLE CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0" STYLE="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%">
  <TR STYLE="vertical-align: bottom">
    <TD STYLE="white-space: nowrap; width: 70%"><FONT STYLE="font-size: 10pt">&nbsp;</FONT></TD>
    <TD STYLE="text-align: right; white-space: nowrap; width: 30%; font: bold 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif"><FONT STYLE="font-size: 10pt">CONFIDENTIAL
    TREATMENT REQUESTED</FONT></TD></TR>
  <TR STYLE="vertical-align: bottom">
    <TD STYLE="white-space: nowrap"><FONT STYLE="font-size: 10pt">&nbsp;</FONT></TD>
    <TD STYLE="text-align: right; white-space: nowrap; font: bold 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif"><FONT STYLE="font-size: 10pt">BY
GILEAD SCIENCES, INC.</FONT></TD></TR>
  </TABLE>
<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0 0pt 0.5in">Rule&nbsp;13e-3 of the Exchange Act applies to transactions
to acquire securities of an issuer by the issuer or an affiliate of the issuer. Rule&nbsp;13e-3(a)(1)&nbsp;defines an affiliate of an
issuer as &ldquo;a person that directly or indirectly through one or more intermediaries controls, is controlled by, or is under common
control with such issuer.&rdquo; Rule&nbsp;12b-2 of the Exchange Act defines &ldquo;control&rdquo; to include &ldquo;the possession, direct
or indirect, of the power to direct or cause the direction of the management and policies of a person, whether through the ownership of
voting securities, by contract, or otherwise.&rdquo; We note that the element of &ldquo;control&rdquo; that is fundamental to the concept
of &ldquo;affiliate&rdquo; as defined by Rule&nbsp;13e-3 is dependent upon specific facts and circumstances.</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;</P>

<TABLE CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0" STYLE="width: 100%; font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt"><TR STYLE="vertical-align: top">
<TD STYLE="width: 0.75in"></TD><TD STYLE="width: 0.25in"><I>a.</I></TD><TD><I>Parent does not control CymaBay and is not an affiliate of CymaBay.</I></TD></TR></TABLE>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0 0pt 1in">Parent has no ability to direct or cause the direction of the
management or policies of CymaBay, through ownership of voting securities, contract or otherwise. Thus, Parent does not control CymaBay
and is not an affiliate of CymaBay.</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;</P>

<TABLE CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0" WIDTH="100%" STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt"><TR STYLE="vertical-align: top">
<TD STYLE="width: 1.25in"></TD><TD STYLE="width: 0.25in"><FONT STYLE="font-family: Times New Roman, Times, Serif; font-size: 10pt"><FONT STYLE="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10pt">&middot;</FONT></FONT></TD><TD><FONT STYLE="font-family: Times New Roman, Times, Serif"><U>Parent holds no equity or debt ownership stake in CymaBay</U>. As
                                                                                                                                                                                                                 noted by the Commission in Exchange Act Release No.&nbsp;34-17719 (April&nbsp;13, 1981) (the &ldquo;<B>Interpretive
                                                                                                                                                                                                                 Release</B>&rdquo;), as well as by the Staff in various telephone interpretations and compliance and disclosure interpretations
                                                                                                                                                                                                                 (&ldquo;<B>CD&amp;I</B>&rdquo;) of Rule 13e-3 of the Exchange Act over the years (including without limitation in CD&amp;I 102.01,
                                                                                                                                                                                                                 201.01, 201.03, 201.05 and 201.06), a touchstone of &ldquo;control&rdquo; (and therefore of &ldquo;affiliate&rdquo; status) is
                                                                                                                                                                                                                 ownership by the entity that is alleged to be a purported affiliate of the issuer of a significant percentage of voting equity
                                                                                                                                                                                                                 securities of the issuer. However, as described in the section of the Offer to Purchase entitled &ldquo;Certain Information
                                                                                                                                                                                                                 Concerning Parent and Purchaser&rdquo;, as of the date of the Merger Agreement and the date of the Schedule TO, none of Parent,
                                                                                                                                                                                                                 Purchaser, or any majority-owned subsidiary of Parent or Purchaser beneficially owns or has any right to acquire, directly or
                                                                                                                                                                                                                 indirectly, any Shares or other equity securities and no such person effected any transaction in the Shares or other equity
                                                                                                                                                                                                                 securities during the 60-day period preceding the date of the Offer to Purchase. As a result, Parent may not participate in any vote
                                                                                                                                                                                                                 of CymaBay&rsquo;s stockholders on the election of directors or any other matter. Also as of the date of the Merger Agreement and
                                                                                                                                                                                                                 the date of the Schedule TO, none of Parent, Purchaser, or any majority-owned subsidiary of Parent or Purchaser beneficially owned
                                                                                                                                                                                                                 any debt securities of CymaBay or its subsidiaries. As a result, because there is no ownership by Parent of CymaBay equity or debt
                                                                                                                                                                                                                 securities, Parent does not control CymaBay and Parent is not an affiliate of CymaBay.</FONT></TD></TR></TABLE>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;</P>

<TABLE CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0" WIDTH="100%" STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt"><TR STYLE="vertical-align: top">
<TD STYLE="width: 1.25in"></TD><TD STYLE="width: 0.25in"><FONT STYLE="font-family: Times New Roman, Times, Serif; font-size: 10pt"><FONT STYLE="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10pt">&middot;</FONT></FONT></TD><TD><FONT STYLE="font-family: Times New Roman, Times, Serif"><U>Parent has no representation on, or ability to appoint or remove members
of, the Company Board</U>. Parent has no (and has never had any) power, contractual or otherwise, to appoint or remove any director to
the Company Board (or any committee thereof) or any other direct or indirect power over the composition of the Company Board (or any committee
thereof).</FONT></TD></TR></TABLE>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0"></P>

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<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;</P>

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<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0"></P>

<TABLE CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0" STYLE="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%">
  <TR STYLE="vertical-align: bottom">
    <TD STYLE="white-space: nowrap; width: 70%"><FONT STYLE="font-size: 10pt">&nbsp;</FONT></TD>
    <TD STYLE="text-align: right; white-space: nowrap; width: 30%; font: bold 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif"><FONT STYLE="font-size: 10pt">CONFIDENTIAL
    TREATMENT REQUESTED</FONT></TD></TR>
  <TR STYLE="vertical-align: bottom">
    <TD STYLE="white-space: nowrap"><FONT STYLE="font-size: 10pt">&nbsp;</FONT></TD>
    <TD STYLE="text-align: right; white-space: nowrap; font: bold 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif"><FONT STYLE="font-size: 10pt">BY
GILEAD SCIENCES, INC.</FONT></TD></TR>
  </TABLE>
<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;</P>

<TABLE CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0" WIDTH="100%" STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt"><TR STYLE="vertical-align: top">
<TD STYLE="width: 1.25in"></TD><TD STYLE="width: 0.25in"><FONT STYLE="font-family: Times New Roman, Times, Serif; font-size: 10pt"><FONT STYLE="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10pt">&middot;</FONT></FONT></TD><TD><FONT STYLE="font-family: Times New Roman, Times, Serif"><U>Ms.&nbsp;Dorling is not a Parent representative on the Company
                                                                                                                                                                                                                 Board</U>. Ms.&nbsp;Dorling is not a Parent representative on the Company Board and Parent has never appointed Ms.&nbsp;Dorling or
                                                                                                                                                                                                                 any other representative to the Company Board (or any committee thereof). The fact that Ms.&nbsp;Dorling serves on the Company Board
                                                                                                                                                                                                                 is solely and entirely due to CymaBay independently nominating Ms.&nbsp;Dorling to, and her agreeing to serve on, the Company Board.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                 Parent was not (and is not) involved in that decision by CymaBay to nominate Ms.&nbsp;Dorling or in Ms.&nbsp;Dorling&rsquo;s
                                                                                                                                                                                                                 decision to serve and has had no discussions of such matters with CymaBay or Ms.&nbsp;Dorling whatsoever. The Nominating and
                                                                                                                                                                                                                 Corporate Governance Committee of CymaBay, which is composed entirely of directors with no relationship to Parent, identifies and
                                                                                                                                                                                                                 nominates directors to the Company Board and Parent does not have any control or influence over such committee.<FONT STYLE="font-size: 10pt"><SUP>1 </SUP></FONT>Furthermore,
                                                                                                                                                                                                                 we note that there have been numerous situations over the years where neither the Commission nor the Staff has found the existence
                                                                                                                                                                                                                 of control by a first party over a second party merely because a person related to the first party is a director on the second
                                                                                                                                                                                                                 party&rsquo;s board of directors.<SUP>2 </SUP>Moreover, we note that there have been several instances over the years where, as part
                                                                                                                                                                                                                 of a hostile takeover of a target company, an acquiror nominates and successfully elects several directors to a target
                                                                                                                                                                                                                 company&rsquo;s board of directors in order to put pressure on the target board of directors to accept the acquiror&rsquo;s hostile
                                                                                                                                                                                                                 tender offer. A hostile bidder electing directors to a target company&rsquo;s board in connection with a hostile tender offer
                                                                                                                                                                                                                 potentially raises numerous concerns, including among others, coercion, inadequate price, and illiquidity for target stockholders
                                                                                                                                                                                                                 who do not tender into the acquiror&rsquo;s tender offer&mdash;none of which concerns are present in the current transaction. In
                                                                                                                                                                                                                 those situations, neither the Commission nor the Staff has determined that the hostile acquiror, by virtue of having nominated and
                                                                                                                                                                                                                 elected several directors to a target company&rsquo;s board of directors, controls the target company or is an affiliate of the
                                                                                                                                                                                                                 target company, such that the acquiror&rsquo;s acquisition of such target company in the transaction gives rise to a Rule&nbsp;13e-3
                                                                                                                                                                                                                 transaction.<FONT STYLE="font-size: 10pt"><SUP>3</SUP></FONT></FONT></TD></TR></TABLE>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;</P>

<TABLE CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0" WIDTH="100%" STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt"><TR STYLE="vertical-align: top">
<TD STYLE="width: 1.25in"></TD><TD STYLE="width: 0.25in"><FONT STYLE="font-family: Times New Roman, Times, Serif; font-size: 10pt"><FONT STYLE="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10pt">&middot;</FONT></FONT></TD><TD><FONT STYLE="font-family: Times New Roman, Times, Serif"><U>Parent is not an affiliate of any CymaBay management</U>. Parent is not
an affiliate of any of CymaBay&rsquo;s current executive officers. The Company Board appoints the executive officers of CymaBay, and the
Company Board is independent from Parent.</FONT></TD></TR></TABLE>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;</P>

<TABLE CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0" WIDTH="100%" STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt"><TR STYLE="vertical-align: top">
<TD STYLE="width: 1.25in"></TD><TD STYLE="width: 0.25in"><FONT STYLE="font-family: Times New Roman, Times, Serif; font-size: 10pt"><FONT STYLE="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10pt">&middot;</FONT></FONT></TD><TD><FONT STYLE="font-family: Times New Roman, Times, Serif"><U>Parent has no veto or other rights over CymaBay actions</U>. Parent has
no right, contractual or otherwise, to veto any action of the Company Board or CymaBay management or to require the Company Board or CymaBay
management to take or refrain from taking any action. There are no contractual or other arrangements between Parent and CymaBay granting
Parent the power to direct or cause the direction of management and policies of CymaBay.</FONT></TD></TR></TABLE>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0"></P>

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<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0"></P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0"><FONT STYLE="font-family: Times New Roman, Times, Serif; font-size: 8pt"><SUP>1
</SUP></FONT><FONT STYLE="font-size: 8pt">We note that the Commission has previously decided that no &ldquo;Rule 13e-3 transaction&rdquo;
existed even in a situation where (i) an acquiror had a 37% stockholder (the &ldquo;<B>Acquiror 37% Stockholder</B>&rdquo;), (ii) the
Acquiror 37% Stockholder had at least one board seat on the acquiror&rsquo;s board of directors, (iii) the Acquiror 37% Stockholder also
had a contractual right to nominate a director to the target&rsquo;s board of directors (the &ldquo;<B>Acquiror Stockholder Director</B>&rdquo;)
and the Acquiror 37% Stockholder actually nominated the Acquiror Stockholder Director to the target&rsquo;s board of directors, which
Acquiror Stockholder Director was elected to the target&rsquo;s board of directors, (iv) such Acquiror Stockholder Director continued
to serve on the target&rsquo;s board of directors at the time the parties executed definitive documentation with respect to the transaction
and (v) the Acquiror 37% Stockholder also owned 14.9% of the target&rsquo;s outstanding common stock. <I>See e.g.</I> Vitamin Shoppe,
Inc., Response Letter relating to Preliminary Proxy Statement on Schedule 14A, File No. 001-34507 (October 25, 2019).</FONT></P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0"><FONT STYLE="font-size: 8pt">&nbsp;</FONT></P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0"><FONT STYLE="font-size: 8pt"><SUP>2</SUP> <I>See</I> Inv. Co. Inst.,
SEC No-Action Letter, 2009 WL 659141 (Mar. 12, 2009) (acquisition of liquidity protected preferred shares having the right to designate
2 directors on a company&rsquo;s board does not, in and of itself, constitute control of such company). <I>See also</I> American Century
Companies, Inc./J.P. Morgan &amp; Co. Incorporated, SEC Staff No-Action Letter (Dec. 23, 1997) (Staff recognized that the ability to
appoint two out of ten directors of a company, coupled with a significant economic interest, did not constitute control). <I>See also
</I>National Liquid Reserves, Inc., SEC Staff No Action Letter (Mar. 29, 1980) (a first party would not be an affiliated person of a
second party, merely because an employee of the first party is a director of the second party). <I>See also</I> In the Matter of Investors
Mutual, Inc., et al., Investment Company Act Release No. 4595 (May 11, 1966), aff'd, Phillips v. SEC, 388 F.2d 964 (2d Cir. 1968) (presumption
of non-control not rebutted where, among other factors, holder of 15% of voting stock of company elected two seats on company's ten-member
board of directors). While we note that the foregoing no action letters and decision were in the setting of the Investment Company Act of 1940 (and in one
case also in the setting of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940), we believe they are instructive in analyzing &ldquo;control&rdquo; in the
current transaction.</FONT></P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0"><FONT STYLE="font-size: 8pt">&nbsp;</FONT></P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0"><FONT STYLE="font-family: Times New Roman, Times, Serif; font-size: 8pt"><SUP>3 </SUP></FONT><FONT STYLE="font-size: 8pt"><I>See </I>Weyerhaeuser
Company&rsquo;s (CIK: 0000106535) all cash hostile tender offer for Willamette Industries (CIK: 0000107189) in 2001/2002. In
connection with its hostile tender offer, Weyerhaeuser successfully nominated and elected 3 directors to Willamette&rsquo;s board of
9 directors in a proxy fight. Weyerhaeuser subsequently consummated its hostile takeover of Willamette (which had an effect
described in Rule 13e-3(a)(3)(ii)). Neither the Commission nor the Staff determined that such transaction was a Rule 13e-3
transaction or required a Schedule 13E-3 to be filed. <I>See also</I> CF Industries Holdings, Inc.&rsquo;s (CIK: 0001324404) hostile
exchange offer for Terra Industries Inc. (CIK: 0000722079) in 2009/2010. In connection with its stock and cash hostile exchange
offer for Terra, CF successfully nominated and elected 3 directors to Terra&rsquo;s board of 8 directors in a proxy fight. CF
subsequently consummated its hostile takeover of Terra (which had an effect described in Rule 13e-3(a)(3)(ii), and which was not
eligible for the exception in Rule 13e-3(g)(2) due to the fixed stock and cash components of the exchange offer). Neither the
Commission nor the Staff determined that such transaction was a Rule 13e-3 transaction or required a Schedule 13E-3 to be
filed.</FONT></P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0"></P>

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<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;&nbsp;</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0"><IMG SRC="tm245976d6_correspimg001.jpg" ALT="">&nbsp;</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0"></P>

<TABLE CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0" STYLE="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%">
  <TR STYLE="vertical-align: bottom">
    <TD STYLE="white-space: nowrap; width: 70%"><FONT STYLE="font-size: 10pt">&nbsp;</FONT></TD>
    <TD STYLE="text-align: right; white-space: nowrap; width: 30%; font: bold 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif"><FONT STYLE="font-size: 10pt">CONFIDENTIAL
    TREATMENT REQUESTED</FONT></TD></TR>
  <TR STYLE="vertical-align: bottom">
    <TD STYLE="white-space: nowrap"><FONT STYLE="font-size: 10pt">&nbsp;</FONT></TD>
    <TD STYLE="text-align: right; white-space: nowrap; font: bold 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif"><FONT STYLE="font-size: 10pt">BY
GILEAD SCIENCES, INC.</FONT></TD></TR>
  </TABLE>
<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;</P>

<TABLE CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0" WIDTH="100%" STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt"><TR STYLE="vertical-align: top">
<TD STYLE="width: 1.25in"></TD><TD STYLE="width: 0.25in"><FONT STYLE="font-family: Times New Roman, Times, Serif; font-size: 10pt"><FONT STYLE="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10pt">&middot;</FONT></FONT></TD><TD><FONT STYLE="font-family: Times New Roman, Times, Serif"><U>Parent has no commercial or other contractual relationships with CymaBay</U>.
Other than the Merger Agreement and a customary confidentiality agreement entered into between Parent and CymaBay executed on December&nbsp;15,
2022 (the &ldquo;<B>Confidentiality Agreement</B>&rdquo;) in connection with the arms-length negotiation of the current transaction, Parent
has no commercial or other contractual arrangements with CymaBay of any kind.</FONT></TD></TR></TABLE>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;</P>

<TABLE CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0" WIDTH="100%" STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt"><TR STYLE="vertical-align: top">
<TD STYLE="width: 1.25in"></TD><TD STYLE="width: 0.25in"><FONT STYLE="font-family: Times New Roman, Times, Serif; font-size: 10pt"><FONT STYLE="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10pt">&middot;</FONT></FONT></TD><TD><FONT STYLE="font-family: Times New Roman, Times, Serif"><U>Ms.&nbsp;Dorling did not participate in discussions or deliberations involving
the Transactions</U>. Ms.&nbsp;Dorling is not an affiliate of Parent or CymaBay. Furthermore, as described in the section of the Schedule
14D-9 entitled &ldquo;Background of the Offer and the Merger&rdquo;, the Company Board was aware of Ms.&nbsp;Dorling&rsquo;s employment
with Parent at the outset of discussions regarding a transaction between Parent and CymaBay and the Company Board requested that Ms.&nbsp;Dorling
recuse herself from all Company Board matters concerning Parent. Ms.&nbsp;Dorling recused herself from all such matters, including all
matters related to the Merger Agreement and the Transactions. Similarly, as described in the section of the Offer to Purchase entitled
 &ldquo;Background of the Offer; Contacts with the Company&rdquo;, Parent was aware that Ms.&nbsp;Dorling was also a director on the Company
Board, and in light of that fact, Parent did not have (and Parent did not permit its representatives to have) any discussions with Ms.&nbsp;Dorling
about the current transaction with CymaBay.</FONT></TD></TR></TABLE>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;</P>

<TABLE CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0" WIDTH="100%" STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt"><TR STYLE="vertical-align: top">
<TD STYLE="width: 1.25in"></TD><TD STYLE="width: 0.25in"><FONT STYLE="font-family: Times New Roman, Times, Serif; font-size: 10pt"><FONT STYLE="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10pt">&middot;</FONT></FONT></TD><TD><FONT STYLE="font-family: Times New Roman, Times, Serif"><U>Parent never received any information regarding CymaBay from Ms.&nbsp;Dorling</U>.
In addition to abstaining from discussing the current transaction itself with Ms.&nbsp;Dorling, Parent has never had (and Parent did not
permit its representatives to have) any discussions, and has never received any information, about CymaBay or its business or prospects,
any of its affiliates, or any of its suppliers, vendors, manufacturers, distributors or other contractual counterparties with Ms.&nbsp;Dorling
whatsoever, including during Parent&rsquo;s due diligence investigation of CymaBay. Parent conducted its own independent due diligence
investigation of CymaBay in concert with its legal and regulatory advisors and in accordance with the Confidentiality Agreement.</FONT></TD></TR></TABLE>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0 0pt 1in">For the reasons outlined above, Parent does not control CymaBay
and is not an affiliate of CymaBay.</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;</P>

<TABLE CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0" WIDTH="100%" STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt"><TR STYLE="vertical-align: top">
<TD STYLE="width: 0.75in"></TD><TD STYLE="width: 0.25in"><I>b.</I></TD><TD><I>Ms.&nbsp;Dorling does not control Parent and is not an affiliate of Parent.</I></TD></TR></TABLE>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0 0pt 1in">Ms.&nbsp;Dorling is not an executive officer of Parent, and
she has no ability to direct or cause the direction of the management or policies of Parent, whether through ownership of voting securities,
contract or otherwise. Thus, Ms.&nbsp;Dorling does not control Parent and is not an affiliate of Parent.</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0"></P>

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    <DIV STYLE="break-before: page; margin-top: 6pt; margin-bottom: 12pt"><P STYLE="margin: 0pt">&nbsp;</P></DIV>
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<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;&nbsp;</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0"><IMG SRC="tm245976d6_correspimg001.jpg" ALT="">&nbsp;</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0"></P>

<TABLE CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0" STYLE="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%">
  <TR STYLE="vertical-align: bottom">
    <TD STYLE="white-space: nowrap; width: 70%"><FONT STYLE="font-size: 10pt">&nbsp;</FONT></TD>
    <TD STYLE="text-align: right; white-space: nowrap; width: 30%; font: bold 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif"><FONT STYLE="font-size: 10pt">CONFIDENTIAL
    TREATMENT REQUESTED</FONT></TD></TR>
  <TR STYLE="vertical-align: bottom">
    <TD STYLE="white-space: nowrap"><FONT STYLE="font-size: 10pt">&nbsp;</FONT></TD>
    <TD STYLE="text-align: right; white-space: nowrap; font: bold 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif"><FONT STYLE="font-size: 10pt">BY
GILEAD SCIENCES, INC.</FONT></TD></TR>
  </TABLE>
<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;</P>

<TABLE CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0" WIDTH="100%" STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt"><TR STYLE="vertical-align: top">
<TD STYLE="width: 1.25in"></TD><TD STYLE="width: 0.25in"><FONT STYLE="font-family: Times New Roman, Times, Serif; font-size: 10pt"><FONT STYLE="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10pt">&middot;</FONT></FONT></TD><TD><FONT STYLE="font-family: Times New Roman, Times, Serif"><U>Ms.&nbsp;Dorling is not an executive officer or control person of
                                                                                                                                                                                                                 Parent</U>. Both Rule&nbsp;3b-7 of the Exchange Act and Rule&nbsp;405 of the Securities Act of 1933 (the &ldquo;<B>Securities
                                                                                                                                                                                                                 Act</B>&rdquo;) provide that the term &ldquo;executive officer&rdquo;, when used with reference to a registrant, means &ldquo;its
                                                                                                                                                                                                                 president, any vice president of the registrant in charge of a principal business unit, division or function (such as sales,
                                                                                                                                                                                                                 administration or finance), any other officer who performs a policy making function or any other person who performs similar policy
                                                                                                                                                                                                                 making functions for the registrant.&rdquo; Ms.&nbsp;Dorling, a Parent employee with a title of senior vice president within the
                                                                                                                                                                                                                 &ldquo;intercontinental region and global patient solutions&rdquo; area, is not an &ldquo;executive officer&rdquo; of Parent (as
                                                                                                                                                                                                                 defined under Rule&nbsp;3b-7 of the Exchange Act and Rule&nbsp;405 of the Securities Act). Ms.&nbsp;Dorling is not in charge of a
                                                                                                                                                                                                                 principal business unit, division, or function of Parent, and she does not perform a policy making function at Parent. The
                                                                                                                                                                                                                 intercontinental region and global patient solutions area within Parent in which Ms.&nbsp;Dorling serves is not a principal business
                                                                                                                                                                                                                 unit, division or function of Parent, but rather is a small geographic subset of commercialization activities generally at Parent,
                                                                                                                                                                                                                 with Ms.&nbsp;Dorling covering only the areas of Hong Kong, Malaysia, South Korea, Singapore, Taiwan, Latin America, Middle East, Turkey, Russia and certain other locations in Africa,
Asia, and Eastern Europe. Such regions represent only a small fraction of Parent&rsquo;s revenues<FONT STYLE="font-size: 10pt"><SUP>4</SUP></FONT>
                                                                                                                                                                                                                 and a small portion of the commercialization activities at Parent. Furthermore, Ms.&nbsp;Dorling is not in charge of
                                                                                                                                                                                                                 commercialization at Gilead and Ms.&nbsp;Dorling does not report to the Chief Executive Officer of Parent. Instead, Ms.&nbsp;Dorling
                                                                                                                                                                                                                 reports to Johanna Mercier, who is the Chief Commercial Officer of Parent and an &ldquo;executive officer&rdquo; of Parent.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                 Ms.&nbsp;Mercier is in charge of the commercialization activities for all of Gilead. [***] For the entire time Ms.&nbsp;Dorling has
                                                                                                                                                                                                                 been employed by Parent (since May&nbsp;2020), Ms.&nbsp;Dorling has not been an &ldquo;executive officer&rdquo; listed in any Parent
                                                                                                                                                                                                                 proxy statement on Schedule 14A for its annual stockholder meetings or in any Parent annual report on Form&nbsp;10-K. Further,
                                                                                                                                                                                                                 Ms.&nbsp;Dorling has never been considered an &ldquo;officer&rdquo; of Parent (as such term is defined in Section&nbsp;16 of the
                                                                                                                                                                                                                 Exchange Act) nor has she filed a Section&nbsp;16 report with respect to Parent securities. Moreover, Ms.&nbsp;Dorling is at a level
                                                                                                                                                                                                                 that is junior to other employees of Parent: most notably, Ms.&nbsp;Dorling is junior to the executive vice president level officers
                                                                                                                                                                                                                 and the C-suite officers (e.g., CEO, CFO, CCO, CMO,&nbsp;etc.) at Parent. Parent has never listed Ms.&nbsp;Dorling as part of its
                                                                                                                                                                                                                 &ldquo;senior management&rdquo;, &ldquo;leadership&rdquo;, or even &ldquo;officers&rdquo; in its public disclosures or on its
                                                                                                                                                                                                                 website. Ms.&nbsp;Dorling does not provide any input to the Parent Board or to the executive officers of Parent (except as noted
                                                                                                                                                                                                                 above in the ordinary course of her employment in reporting to Ms.&nbsp;Mercier on Gilead activities in the specific countries in
                                                                                                                                                                                                                 the intercontinental region noted above). Ms.&nbsp;Dorling has no power or ability to direct or cause the direction of the
                                                                                                                                                                                                                 management and policies of Parent or to otherwise control Parent.</FONT></TD></TR></TABLE>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;</P>

<TABLE CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0" WIDTH="100%" STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt"><TR STYLE="vertical-align: top">
<TD STYLE="width: 1.25in"></TD><TD STYLE="width: 0.25in"><FONT STYLE="font-family: Times New Roman, Times, Serif; font-size: 10pt"><FONT STYLE="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10pt">&middot;</FONT></FONT></TD><TD><FONT STYLE="font-family: Times New Roman, Times, Serif"><U>Ms.&nbsp;Dorling is not a director of Parent and has no right to appoint
or remove directors of Parent</U>. Ms.&nbsp;Dorling does not sit on the Parent Board and does not have the right to appoint, or to cause
the removal of, any director of Parent. None of the directors on the Parent Board have any past or present affiliation with Ms.&nbsp;Dorling
and Ms.&nbsp;Dorling does not control such directors. The Nominating and Governance Committee of Parent, which is composed entirely of
directors unaffiliated with Ms.&nbsp;Dorling, identifies and nominates directors to the Parent Board and Ms.&nbsp;Dorling does not have
any control or influence over such committee or have any right to be nominated to the Parent Board.</FONT></TD></TR></TABLE>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0"></P>

<!-- Field: Rule-Page --><DIV STYLE="margin-top: 3pt; margin-bottom: 3pt; width: 25%"><DIV STYLE="font-size: 1pt; border-top: Black 1pt solid">&nbsp;</DIV></DIV><!-- Field: /Rule-Page -->

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0"><FONT STYLE="font-size: 8pt"><SUP>4</SUP> According to Parent&rsquo;s
most recent Form 10-K for Fiscal Year 2023, 72% of Parent&rsquo;s product sales for fiscal year 2023 occurred within the United States.</FONT></P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0"></P>

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    <DIV STYLE="break-before: page; margin-top: 6pt; margin-bottom: 12pt"><P STYLE="margin: 0pt">&nbsp;</P></DIV>
    <!-- Field: /Page -->

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;&nbsp;</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0"><IMG SRC="tm245976d6_correspimg001.jpg" ALT="">&nbsp;</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0"></P>

<TABLE CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0" STYLE="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%">
  <TR STYLE="vertical-align: bottom">
    <TD STYLE="white-space: nowrap; width: 70%"><FONT STYLE="font-size: 10pt">&nbsp;</FONT></TD>
    <TD STYLE="text-align: right; white-space: nowrap; width: 30%; font: bold 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif"><FONT STYLE="font-size: 10pt">CONFIDENTIAL
    TREATMENT REQUESTED</FONT></TD></TR>
  <TR STYLE="vertical-align: bottom">
    <TD STYLE="white-space: nowrap"><FONT STYLE="font-size: 10pt">&nbsp;</FONT></TD>
    <TD STYLE="text-align: right; white-space: nowrap; font: bold 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif"><FONT STYLE="font-size: 10pt">BY
GILEAD SCIENCES, INC.</FONT></TD></TR>
  </TABLE>
<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;</P>

<TABLE CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0" WIDTH="100%" STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt"><TR STYLE="vertical-align: top">
<TD STYLE="width: 1.25in"></TD><TD STYLE="width: 0.25in"><FONT STYLE="font-family: Times New Roman, Times, Serif; font-size: 10pt"><FONT STYLE="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10pt">&middot;</FONT></FONT></TD><TD><FONT STYLE="font-family: Times New Roman, Times, Serif"><U>Ms.&nbsp;Dorling has no veto or other rights with respect to Parent</U>.
Ms.&nbsp;Dorling has no right to veto any action of the Parent Board or Parent management or to require the Parent Board or Parent management
to take or refrain from taking any action. There are no contractual arrangements granting to Ms.&nbsp;Dorling, or other indicia that Ms.&nbsp;Dorling
has, the power to direct or cause the direction of management and policies of Parent.</FONT></TD></TR></TABLE>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0"></P>

<TABLE CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0" WIDTH="100%" STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt"><TR STYLE="vertical-align: top">
<TD STYLE="width: 1.25in"></TD><TD STYLE="width: 0.25in"><FONT STYLE="font-family: Times New Roman, Times, Serif; font-size: 10pt"><FONT STYLE="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10pt">&middot;</FONT></FONT></TD><TD><FONT STYLE="font-family: Times New Roman, Times, Serif"><U>Ms.&nbsp;Dorling does not hold any significant amount of voting power
in Parent</U>. To Parent&rsquo;s knowledge, Ms.&nbsp;Dorling beneficially owns not more than a de minimis amount (relative to Parent&rsquo;s
outstanding equity capitalization) of common stock of Parent or any securities convertible into or exercisable or exchangeable for Parent&rsquo;s
capital stock, other than equity incentive awards of Parent pursuant to grants made by Parent in the ordinary course of business to Parent
employees. To Parent&rsquo;s knowledge, such equity incentive awards comprise substantially less than 1% of the outstanding common stock
of Parent. To Parent&rsquo;s knowledge, Ms.&nbsp;Dorling has never made a single filing with the Commission in respect of her beneficial
ownership of Parent&rsquo;s equity securities. Ms.&nbsp;Dorling&rsquo;s small ownership of Parent equity securities does not provide Ms.&nbsp;Dorling
with the power to direct or cause the direction of management and policies of Parent.</FONT></TD></TR></TABLE>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;</P>

<TABLE CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0" WIDTH="100%" STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt"><TR STYLE="vertical-align: top">
<TD STYLE="width: 1.25in"></TD><TD STYLE="width: 0.25in"><FONT STYLE="font-family: Times New Roman, Times, Serif; font-size: 10pt"><FONT STYLE="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10pt">&middot;</FONT></FONT></TD><TD><FONT STYLE="font-family: Times New Roman, Times, Serif"><U>Ms.&nbsp;Dorling is not an affiliate of any management or executive officers
of Parent</U>. The Parent Board appoints the executive officers of Parent and none of the directors on such Parent Board are affiliated
with Ms.&nbsp;Dorling.</FONT></TD></TR></TABLE>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;</P>

<TABLE CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0" WIDTH="100%" STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt"><TR STYLE="vertical-align: top">
<TD STYLE="width: 1.25in"></TD><TD STYLE="width: 0.25in"><FONT STYLE="font-family: Times New Roman, Times, Serif; font-size: 10pt"><FONT STYLE="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10pt">&middot;</FONT></FONT></TD><TD><FONT STYLE="font-family: Times New Roman, Times, Serif"><U>Parent did not discuss the current transaction with Ms.&nbsp;Dorling</U>.
Parent did not discuss (and Parent did not permit its representatives to discuss) the current transaction with Ms.&nbsp;Dorling at any
time.</FONT></TD></TR></TABLE>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0 0pt 1in">For the reasons outlined above, Ms.&nbsp;Dorling does not control
Parent and is not an affiliate of Parent.</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;</P>

<TABLE CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0" WIDTH="100%" STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt"><TR STYLE="vertical-align: top">
<TD STYLE="width: 0.75in"></TD><TD STYLE="width: 0.25in"><I>c.</I></TD><TD><I>Ms.&nbsp;Dorling does not control CymaBay and is not an affiliate of CymaBay.</I></TD></TR></TABLE>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0 0pt 1in">Ms.&nbsp;Dorling has no ability to direct or cause the direction
of the management or policies of CymaBay, through ownership of voting securities, contract or otherwise. Thus, Ms.&nbsp;Dorling does not
control CymaBay and is not an affiliate of CymaBay.</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;</P>

<TABLE CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0" WIDTH="100%" STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt"><TR STYLE="vertical-align: top">
<TD STYLE="width: 1.25in"></TD><TD STYLE="width: 0.25in"><FONT STYLE="font-family: Times New Roman, Times, Serif; font-size: 10pt"><FONT STYLE="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10pt">&middot;</FONT></FONT></TD><TD><FONT STYLE="font-family: Times New Roman, Times, Serif"><U>Ms.&nbsp;Dorling
                                            holds one of seven Company Board seats</U>. The Company Board consists of seven directors,
                                            including Ms.&nbsp;Dorling. Other than in respect of Mr.&nbsp;Shah, who serves as CymaBay&rsquo;s
                                            Chief Executive Officer, the remainder of the Company Board is composed entirely of independent
                                            and disinterested directors and as of May&nbsp;1, 2023, the Company Board determined that
                                            Ms.&nbsp;Dorling would be an &ldquo;independent director&rdquo; within the meaning of the
                                            applicable NASDAQ listing standards. Ms.&nbsp;Dorling is 1 vote out of 7 votes and therefore
                                            she cannot control any Company Board vote on any matter. The Commission has emphasized that
                                            &ldquo;a person&rsquo;s status as an officer, director, or owner of 10% of the voting securities
                                            of a company is not necessarily determinative of whether such person is a control person
                                            or member of a controlling group of persons.&rdquo; <I>American Standard, 1972 SEC No-Act.
                                            LEXIS 3787.</I><FONT STYLE="font-size: 10pt"><SUP>5</SUP></FONT> None of the directors on
                                            the Company Board have any past or present affiliation with either Ms.&nbsp;Dorling or Parent.
                                            Ms.&nbsp;Dorling has no power to appoint or remove directors from the Company Board or to
                                            influence or otherwise sway their behavior. CymaBay became a public reporting company on
                                            October&nbsp;11, 2013, and, having been appointed to the Company Board in April&nbsp;2021,
                                            Ms.&nbsp;Dorling has also not served on the Company Board for most of the period during which
                                            CymaBay was a public reporting company. Based on Parent&rsquo;s due diligence investigation
                                            of CymaBay, Parent is not aware of any contract between CymaBay and Ms.&nbsp;Dorling that
                                            provides Ms.&nbsp;Dorling with a right to representation on the Company Board. Considering
                                            all of the foregoing, Ms.&nbsp;Dorling&rsquo;s single board seat does not provide her with
                                            the power to direct, or cause the direction of, the management or policies of CymaBay or
                                            to otherwise control CymaBay.</FONT></TD></TR></TABLE>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;</P>

<!-- Field: Rule-Page --><DIV STYLE="margin-top: 3pt; margin-bottom: 3pt; width: 25%"><DIV STYLE="font-size: 1pt; border-top: Black 1pt solid">&nbsp;</DIV></DIV><!-- Field: /Rule-Page -->

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0"></P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0"><FONT STYLE="font-size: 8pt"><SUP>5</SUP> <I>See</I> also, e.g., Wilko
v. Swan, 127 F. Supp. 55, 57 (S.D.N.Y. 1955) (upholding special verdict by jury that a director of corporation did not directly or indirectly
control such corporation); and Louis Loss and Joel Seligman, Securities Regulation 1703-27 (3d ed. 1990) at 1724 (&ldquo;a person&rsquo;s
being an officer or director does not create any <I><U>presumption</U></I> of control&rdquo;) (emphasis in original).</FONT></P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0"></P>

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    <DIV STYLE="break-before: page; margin-top: 6pt; margin-bottom: 12pt"><P STYLE="margin: 0pt">&nbsp;</P></DIV>
    <!-- Field: /Page -->

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;&nbsp;</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0"><IMG SRC="tm245976d6_correspimg001.jpg" ALT="">&nbsp;</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0"></P>

<TABLE CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0" STYLE="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%">
  <TR STYLE="vertical-align: bottom">
    <TD STYLE="white-space: nowrap; width: 70%"><FONT STYLE="font-size: 10pt">&nbsp;</FONT></TD>
    <TD STYLE="text-align: right; white-space: nowrap; width: 30%; font: bold 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif"><FONT STYLE="font-size: 10pt">CONFIDENTIAL
    TREATMENT REQUESTED</FONT></TD></TR>
  <TR STYLE="vertical-align: bottom">
    <TD STYLE="white-space: nowrap"><FONT STYLE="font-size: 10pt">&nbsp;</FONT></TD>
    <TD STYLE="text-align: right; white-space: nowrap; font: bold 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif"><FONT STYLE="font-size: 10pt">BY
GILEAD SCIENCES, INC.</FONT></TD></TR>
  </TABLE>
<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;</P>

<TABLE CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0" WIDTH="100%" STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt"><TR STYLE="vertical-align: top">
<TD STYLE="width: 1.25in"></TD><TD STYLE="width: 0.25in"><FONT STYLE="font-family: Times New Roman, Times, Serif; font-size: 10pt"><FONT STYLE="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10pt">&middot;</FONT></FONT></TD><TD><FONT STYLE="font-family: Times New Roman, Times, Serif"><U>Ms.&nbsp;Dorling has no veto or other rights with respect to CymaBay</U>.
Ms.&nbsp;Dorling has no right to veto any action of the Company Board or CymaBay management or to require the Company Board or CymaBay
management to take or refrain from taking any action. There are no contractual arrangements granting Ms.&nbsp;Dorling, or other indicia
that Ms.&nbsp;Dorling has, the power to direct or cause the direction of management and policies of CymaBay. Ms.&nbsp;Dorling has no rights
to be nominated to the Company Board or to remain on the Company Board.</FONT></TD></TR></TABLE>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;</P>

<TABLE CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0" WIDTH="100%" STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt"><TR STYLE="vertical-align: top">
<TD STYLE="width: 1.25in"></TD><TD STYLE="width: 0.25in"><FONT STYLE="font-family: Times New Roman, Times, Serif; font-size: 10pt"><FONT STYLE="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10pt">&middot;</FONT></FONT></TD><TD><FONT STYLE="font-family: Times New Roman, Times, Serif"><U>Ms.&nbsp;Dorling holds no shares in CymaBay and her other CymaBay equity
holdings are de minimis</U>. As described in the section of the Schedule 14D-9 entitled &ldquo;Arrangements with Current Executive Officers
and Directors of the Company&rdquo;, as of the date of the Schedule TO, Ms.&nbsp;Dorling beneficially owns no shares of common stock or
other capital stock of CymaBay, or any securities convertible into or exercisable or exchangeable for CymaBay&rsquo;s capital stock, other
than 148,168 vested Company Options and 12,843 unvested Company Options. Ms.&nbsp;Dorling received all such Company Options pursuant to
grants made by CymaBay in the ordinary course of business to CymaBay directors.</FONT></TD></TR></TABLE>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;</P>

<TABLE CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0" WIDTH="100%" STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt"><TR STYLE="vertical-align: top">
<TD STYLE="width: 1.25in"></TD><TD STYLE="width: 0.25in"><FONT STYLE="font-family: Times New Roman, Times, Serif; font-size: 10pt"><FONT STYLE="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10pt">&middot;</FONT></FONT></TD><TD><FONT STYLE="font-family: Times New Roman, Times, Serif"><U>Ms.&nbsp;Dorling is not affiliated with CymaBay&rsquo;s management</U>.
Ms.&nbsp;Dorling is not affiliated with any of CymaBay&rsquo;s current executive officers. The executive officers of CymaBay are appointed
by the Company Board, on which Ms.&nbsp;Dorling is one of seven directors.</FONT></TD></TR></TABLE>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0 0pt 1in">For the reasons outlined above, Ms.&nbsp;Dorling does not control
CymaBay and is not an affiliate of CymaBay.</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;</P>

<TABLE CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0" WIDTH="100%" STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt"><TR STYLE="vertical-align: top">
<TD STYLE="width: 0.75in"></TD><TD STYLE="width: 0.25in"><I>d.</I></TD><TD><I>Parent is not under common control with CymaBay.</I></TD></TR></TABLE>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0 0pt 1in"><FONT STYLE="font-size: 10pt">Notwithstanding Ms.&nbsp;Dorling&rsquo;s
</FONT>status as both an employee of Parent and a director at CymaBay, Parent is not under common control with CymaBay because for a common
control relationship to exist, Ms.&nbsp;Dorling would need to be <I>both</I> an affiliate of Parent and an affiliate of CymaBay. Here,
Ms.&nbsp;Dorling is <I>neither</I> an affiliate of Parent nor an affiliate of CymaBay.</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;</P>



<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0"></P>

<!-- Field: Page; Sequence: 7 -->
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    <DIV STYLE="break-before: page; margin-top: 6pt; margin-bottom: 12pt"><P STYLE="margin: 0pt">&nbsp;</P></DIV>
    <!-- Field: /Page -->

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;&nbsp;</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0"><IMG SRC="tm245976d6_correspimg001.jpg" ALT=""></P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0"></P>

<TABLE CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0" STYLE="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%">
  <TR STYLE="vertical-align: bottom">
    <TD STYLE="white-space: nowrap; width: 70%"><FONT STYLE="font-size: 10pt">&nbsp;</FONT></TD>
    <TD STYLE="text-align: right; white-space: nowrap; width: 30%; font: bold 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif"><FONT STYLE="font-size: 10pt">CONFIDENTIAL
    TREATMENT REQUESTED</FONT></TD></TR>
  <TR STYLE="vertical-align: bottom">
    <TD STYLE="white-space: nowrap"><FONT STYLE="font-size: 10pt">&nbsp;</FONT></TD>
    <TD STYLE="text-align: right; white-space: nowrap; font: bold 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif"><FONT STYLE="font-size: 10pt">BY
GILEAD SCIENCES, INC.</FONT></TD></TR>
  </TABLE>
<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;</P>

<TABLE CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0" WIDTH="100%" STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt"><TR STYLE="vertical-align: top">
<TD STYLE="width: 1.25in"></TD><TD STYLE="width: 0.25in"><FONT STYLE="font-family: Times New Roman, Times, Serif; font-size: 10pt"><FONT STYLE="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10pt">&middot;</FONT></FONT></TD><TD><FONT STYLE="font-family: Times New Roman, Times, Serif"><U>No control of Parent</U>. Ms.&nbsp;Dorling does not control Parent and
Ms.&nbsp;Dorling is not an affiliate of Parent. As set forth in the analysis in subsection (b)&nbsp;above, Ms.&nbsp;Dorling is not an
executive officer of Parent, and Ms.&nbsp;Dorling has no ability to direct or cause the direction of the management or policies of Parent,
whether through ownership of voting securities, contract or otherwise.</FONT></TD></TR></TABLE>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;</P>

<TABLE CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0" WIDTH="100%" STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt"><TR STYLE="vertical-align: top">
<TD STYLE="width: 1.25in"></TD><TD STYLE="width: 0.25in"><FONT STYLE="font-family: Times New Roman, Times, Serif; font-size: 10pt"><FONT STYLE="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10pt">&middot;</FONT></FONT></TD><TD><FONT STYLE="font-family: Times New Roman, Times, Serif"><U>No control of CymaBay</U>. Ms.&nbsp;Dorling does not control CymaBay and
Ms.&nbsp;Dorling is not an affiliate of CymaBay. As set forth in the analysis in subsection (c)&nbsp;above, Ms.&nbsp;Dorling has no ability
to direct or cause the direction of the management or policies of CymaBay, through ownership of voting securities, contract or otherwise.</FONT></TD></TR></TABLE>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;</P>

<TABLE CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0" WIDTH="100%" STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt"><TR STYLE="vertical-align: top">
<TD STYLE="width: 0.75in"></TD><TD STYLE="width: 0.25in"><I>e.</I></TD><TD><I>The Offer, the Merger and the other Transactions were negotiated vigorously at arm&rsquo;s-length and do not implicate the policy
concerns of Rule&nbsp;13e-3.</I></TD></TR></TABLE>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;</P>

<TABLE CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0" WIDTH="100%" STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt"><TR STYLE="vertical-align: top">
<TD STYLE="width: 1.25in"></TD><TD STYLE="width: 0.25in"><FONT STYLE="font-family: Times New Roman, Times, Serif; font-size: 10pt"><FONT STYLE="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10pt">&middot;</FONT></FONT></TD><TD><FONT STYLE="font-family: Times New Roman, Times, Serif"><U>No Opportunity for Abuse or Coercion</U>. As described in the Interpretive
Release, Rule&nbsp;13e-3 was adopted to protect unaffiliated security holders from the potential for abuse or coercion by an issuer or
its affiliates that may be present in a going private transaction. The opportunity for abuse would be due, in part, to a lack of arm&rsquo;s-length
bargaining and an inability of unaffiliated security holders to influence corporate decisions to enter into such transactions. However,
in the case of the current transaction, the opportunity for abuse that Rule&nbsp;13e-3 was designed to address is not present. The current
transaction was the result of arm&rsquo;s-length negotiations between CymaBay and Gilead, which were overseen by the Company Board with
the exclusion of Ms.&nbsp;Dorling, which negotiations stretched back over 1 year to December&nbsp;15, 2022, when CymaBay and Gilead entered
into the Confidentiality Agreement. It is clear that the current transaction could not reasonably be expected to implicate the concerns
for which Rule&nbsp;13e-3 was adopted to address.</FONT></TD></TR></TABLE>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;</P>

<TABLE CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0" WIDTH="100%" STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt"><TR STYLE="vertical-align: top">
<TD STYLE="width: 1.25in"></TD><TD STYLE="width: 0.25in"><FONT STYLE="font-family: Times New Roman, Times, Serif; font-size: 10pt"><FONT STYLE="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10pt">&middot;</FONT></FONT></TD><TD><FONT STYLE="font-family: Times New Roman, Times, Serif"><U>No Ownership of CymaBay Securities</U>. As noted above, as of the date
of the Merger Agreement and as of the date of the Schedule TO, Parent does not own any equity securities (or debt securities) of CymaBay.
It is antithetical to the purpose and policy underpinning Rule&nbsp;13e-3 to seek to apply Rule&nbsp;13e-3 to a transaction
where the acquiror does not own any voting equity securities (or other securities) of the target issuer.</FONT></TD></TR></TABLE>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;</P>

<TABLE CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0" WIDTH="100%" STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt"><TR STYLE="vertical-align: top">
<TD STYLE="width: 1.25in"></TD><TD STYLE="width: 0.25in"><FONT STYLE="font-family: Times New Roman, Times, Serif; font-size: 10pt"><FONT STYLE="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10pt">&middot;</FONT></FONT></TD><TD><FONT STYLE="font-family: Times New Roman, Times, Serif"><U>Non-Affiliated Issuer; Arm&rsquo;s-Length Negotiation</U>. The Commission
has made clear that Rule&nbsp;13e-3 of the Exchange Act does not apply to a transaction proposal by an acquiror to a non-affiliated issuer.
As the Commission stated in the Interpretive Release, Rule&nbsp;13e-3 does not apply to the merger of an issuer with a non-affiliate since
such &ldquo;transactions between the issuer and a non-affiliate are ordinarily the product of arm&rsquo;s-length negotiations and therefore
do not involve the potential for abuse and overreaching associated with the types of transactions intended to be covered by the Rule.&rdquo;
As noted above, Gilead is not an affiliate of CymaBay and Gilead has no ability to control CymaBay, nor is Gilead under common control
with CymaBay.</FONT></TD></TR></TABLE>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0"></P>

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    <DIV STYLE="break-before: page; margin-top: 6pt; margin-bottom: 12pt"><P STYLE="margin: 0pt">&nbsp;</P></DIV>
    <!-- Field: /Page -->

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;&nbsp;</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0"><IMG SRC="tm245976d6_correspimg001.jpg" ALT="">&nbsp;</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0"></P>

<TABLE CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0" STYLE="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%">
  <TR STYLE="vertical-align: bottom">
    <TD STYLE="white-space: nowrap; width: 70%"><FONT STYLE="font-size: 10pt">&nbsp;</FONT></TD>
    <TD STYLE="text-align: right; white-space: nowrap; width: 30%; font: bold 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif"><FONT STYLE="font-size: 10pt">CONFIDENTIAL
    TREATMENT REQUESTED</FONT></TD></TR>
  <TR STYLE="vertical-align: bottom">
    <TD STYLE="white-space: nowrap"><FONT STYLE="font-size: 10pt">&nbsp;</FONT></TD>
    <TD STYLE="text-align: right; white-space: nowrap; font: bold 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif"><FONT STYLE="font-size: 10pt">BY
GILEAD SCIENCES, INC.</FONT></TD></TR>
  </TABLE>
<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;</P>

<TABLE CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0" WIDTH="100%" STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt"><TR STYLE="vertical-align: top">
<TD STYLE="width: 1.25in"></TD><TD STYLE="width: 0.25in"><FONT STYLE="font-family: Times New Roman, Times, Serif; font-size: 10pt"><FONT STYLE="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10pt">&middot;</FONT></FONT></TD><TD><FONT STYLE="font-family: Times New Roman, Times, Serif"><U>Background of Negotiations</U>. It is clear that Gilead did not and does
not, directly or indirectly, through one or more intermediaries possess the power to direct or cause the management or policies of CymaBay,
whether through the ownership of voting securities, by contract or otherwise. The Merger and the other Transactions were negotiated vigorously,
extensively and at arm&rsquo;s-length, as described in the section of the Offer to Purchase entitled &ldquo;Background of the Offer; Contacts
with the Company&rdquo; and the section of the Schedule 14D-9 entitled &ldquo;Background of the Offer and the Merger.&rdquo; This is evident
by events that span a negotiation over 1 year:</FONT></TD></TR></TABLE>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;</P>

<TABLE CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0" WIDTH="100%" STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt"><TR STYLE="vertical-align: top">
<TD STYLE="width: 1.5in"></TD><TD STYLE="width: 0.25in"><FONT STYLE="font-size: 10pt">o</FONT></TD><TD>Negotiations began on December&nbsp;15, 2022 with the execution of the Confidentiality Agreement, well over 1 year before a definitive
agreement was signed.</TD></TR></TABLE>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;</P>

<TABLE CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0" WIDTH="100%" STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt"><TR STYLE="vertical-align: top">
<TD STYLE="width: 1.5in"></TD><TD STYLE="width: 0.25in"><FONT STYLE="font-size: 10pt">o</FONT></TD><TD>At no point did CymaBay agree to any exclusivity arrangements with respect to negotiations of a potential transaction with Parent.</TD></TR></TABLE>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;</P>

<TABLE CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0" WIDTH="100%" STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt"><TR STYLE="vertical-align: top">
<TD STYLE="width: 1.5in"></TD><TD STYLE="width: 0.25in"><FONT STYLE="font-size: 10pt">o</FONT></TD><TD>Instead, the Company Board carefully considered and evaluated various potential strategic alternatives available to CymaBay, and CymaBay
participated in discussions with twenty-two biopharmaceutical companies in respect of strategic partnerships over the course of late 2022
and into 2024.</TD></TR></TABLE>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;</P>

<TABLE CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0" WIDTH="100%" STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt"><TR STYLE="vertical-align: top">
<TD STYLE="width: 1.5in"></TD><TD STYLE="width: 0.25in"><FONT STYLE="font-size: 10pt">o</FONT></TD><TD>In addition, CymaBay participated in discussions with four other major biopharmaceutical companies specifically in respect of potential
acquisition transactions, each of whom entered into a confidentiality agreement in respect of such potential acquisition transaction and
three of whom received management presentations from CymaBay.</TD></TR></TABLE>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;</P>

<TABLE CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0" WIDTH="100%" STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt"><TR STYLE="vertical-align: top">
<TD STYLE="width: 1.5in"></TD><TD STYLE="width: 0.25in"><FONT STYLE="font-size: 10pt">o</FONT></TD><TD>Moreover, vigorous price negotiation occurred between CymaBay and Parent in respect of a potential acquisition transaction and CymaBay
rejected several proposals from Parent to acquire 100% of the issued and outstanding Shares, including Parent&rsquo;s proposal in November&nbsp;2023
to acquire such Shares at a price of $23.00 per Share in cash.</TD></TR></TABLE>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;</P>

<TABLE CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0" WIDTH="100%" STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt"><TR STYLE="vertical-align: top">
<TD STYLE="width: 1.5in"></TD><TD STYLE="width: 0.25in"><FONT STYLE="font-size: 10pt">o</FONT></TD><TD>In fact, after CymaBay&rsquo;s rejection of such November&nbsp;2023 offer, nearly two months elapsed after CymaBay communicated to
Parent that the November&nbsp;2023 proposal did not provide a basis upon which CymaBay would be willing to permit Parent to advance to
a more extensive phase of due diligence discussions, before Parent submitted a revised offer.</TD></TR></TABLE>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;</P>

<TABLE CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0" WIDTH="100%" STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt"><TR STYLE="vertical-align: top">
<TD STYLE="width: 1.5in"></TD><TD STYLE="width: 0.25in"><FONT STYLE="font-size: 10pt">o</FONT></TD><TD>Parent ultimately increased the cash portion of its offer price two times to a final offer price of $32.50 per Share in cash.</TD></TR></TABLE>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;</P>

<TABLE CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0" WIDTH="100%" STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt"><TR STYLE="vertical-align: top">
<TD STYLE="width: 1.5in"></TD><TD STYLE="width: 0.25in"><FONT STYLE="font-size: 10pt">o</FONT></TD><TD>Even after Parent increased its offer price to $32.50, CymaBay continued to test Parent&rsquo;s willingness to increase its offer
to $33.00.</TD></TR></TABLE>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;</P>

<TABLE CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0" WIDTH="100%" STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt"><TR STYLE="vertical-align: top">
<TD STYLE="width: 1.5in"></TD><TD STYLE="width: 0.25in"><FONT STYLE="font-size: 10pt">o</FONT></TD><TD>As a result of such vigorous price negotiation, Parent&rsquo;s final offer price of $32.50 per Share in cash represents a premium
of: (i)&nbsp;approximately 27% to the closing price of $25.69 per Share on February&nbsp;9, 2024, the last full trading day prior to the
announcement of the current transaction; (ii)&nbsp;approximately 37% to the 30-day trading period volume weighted average price of $23.78
per Share as of February&nbsp;9, 2024; and (iii)&nbsp;approximately 27% to the 52-week high closing price of $25.69 per Share as of February&nbsp;9,
2024.</TD></TR></TABLE>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0"></P>

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<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;&nbsp;</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0"><IMG SRC="tm245976d6_correspimg001.jpg" ALT=""></P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0"></P>

<TABLE CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0" STYLE="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%">
  <TR STYLE="vertical-align: bottom">
    <TD STYLE="white-space: nowrap; width: 70%"><FONT STYLE="font-size: 10pt">&nbsp;</FONT></TD>
    <TD STYLE="text-align: right; white-space: nowrap; width: 30%; font: bold 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif"><FONT STYLE="font-size: 10pt">CONFIDENTIAL
    TREATMENT REQUESTED</FONT></TD></TR>
  <TR STYLE="vertical-align: bottom">
    <TD STYLE="white-space: nowrap"><FONT STYLE="font-size: 10pt">&nbsp;</FONT></TD>
    <TD STYLE="text-align: right; white-space: nowrap; font: bold 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif"><FONT STYLE="font-size: 10pt">BY
GILEAD SCIENCES, INC.</FONT></TD></TR>
  </TABLE>
<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;</P>

<TABLE CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0" STYLE="width: 100%; font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt"><TR STYLE="vertical-align: top">
<TD STYLE="width: 1.25in"></TD><TD STYLE="width: 0.25in"><FONT STYLE="font-family: Times New Roman, Times, Serif; font-size: 10pt; color: #1a1a1a"><FONT STYLE="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10pt">&middot;</FONT></FONT></TD><TD><FONT STYLE="font-family: Times New Roman, Times, Serif"><U>No
                                            One Standing on Both Sides of Transaction</U>. Parent acknowledges the Commission&rsquo;s
                                            concerns regarding certain going private transactions in which an issuer and an affiliate
                                            &ldquo;stand on both sides&rdquo; of a transaction. In the current transaction however, as
                                            discussed above, Parent and the Company were aware of Ms.&nbsp;Dorling&rsquo;s employment
                                            with Parent and service on the Company Board at the outset of discussions regarding the current
                                            transaction and implemented thorough processes and procedures to ensure no practical opportunity
                                            existed to overreach or take advantage of CymaBay stockholders or for any person to &ldquo;stand
                                            on both sides&rdquo; of the current transaction. Specifically, Ms.&nbsp;Dorling recused herself
                                            from all discussions and deliberations by the Company Board in respect of the current transaction
                                            at the outset of such discussions (not just in connection with Parent&rsquo;s acquisition
                                            proposal, but also in connection with all other potential proposals by the four other major
                                            biopharmaceutical companies expressing interest in a potential acquisition transaction<FONT STYLE="color: #1a1a1a; background-color: white">).
                                            In addition, Ms.&nbsp;Dorling was not and is not a Parent representative on the Company Board
                                            and Parent specifically prohibited any discussions of (and prohibited its representatives
                                            from discussing) the current transaction with Ms.&nbsp;Dorling and implemented safeguards
                                            to prevent receipt of any information or diligence materials from Ms.&nbsp;Dorling about
                                            CymaBay or CymaBay&rsquo;s </FONT>suppliers, vendors, manufacturers, distributors or other
                                            contractual counterparties<FONT STYLE="color: #1a1a1a; background-color: white">. Parent
                                            similarly did not share any transaction-related information or documentation, including copies
                                            of any diligence materials or definitive transaction documentation, with Ms.&nbsp;Dorling.
                                            Further, as noted above, Ms.&nbsp;Dorling is not an affiliate of Parent or of CymaBay.</FONT></FONT></TD></TR></TABLE>

<P STYLE="margin: 0">&nbsp;</P>

<TABLE CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0" WIDTH="100%" STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt">
<TR STYLE="vertical-align: top">
<TD STYLE="width: 1.25in">&nbsp;</TD><TD STYLE="width: 0.25in"><FONT STYLE="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10pt">&middot;</FONT></TD><TD><U>The existence of a director on another party&rsquo;s board does not, in and of itself, constitute control of that party</U>.
                                                                                                                                      As noted above (in the third bullet point under the paragraph titled &ldquo;a. Parent does not control CymaBay and is not an
                                                                                                                                      affiliate of CymaBay&rdquo; and in footnote 2), there have been numerous situations where neither the Commission nor the Staff has found the existence of control merely due to a person related to one party also being a director on another party&rsquo;s
                                                                                                                                      board.</TD></TR>
                                                                                                                                                          </TABLE>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;</P>

<TABLE CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0" WIDTH="100%" STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt"><TR STYLE="vertical-align: top">
<TD STYLE="width: 1.25in"></TD><TD STYLE="width: 0.25in"><FONT STYLE="font-family: Times New Roman, Times, Serif; font-size: 10pt"><FONT STYLE="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10pt">&middot;</FONT></FONT></TD><TD><FONT STYLE="font-family: Times New Roman, Times, Serif"><U>Rule&nbsp;13e-3 has not been implicated in past transactions where
                                                                                                                                                                                                                 acquirors successfully elect directors to a target&rsquo;s board of directors</U>. As described above (in the third bullet point
                                                                                                                                                                                                                 under the paragraph titled &ldquo;a. Parent does not control CymaBay and is not an affiliate of CymaBay&rdquo; and in footnote 3),
                                                                                                                                                                                                                 neither the Commission nor the Staff has taken the position that Rule&nbsp;13e-3 applied to a hostile takeover where the acquiror
                                                                                                                                                                                                                 successfully elected directors to the target&rsquo;s board of directors through a proxy fight. A hostile acquiror electing directors
                                                                                                                                                                                                                 to a target company&rsquo;s board in connection with a hostile tender offer potentially raises numerous concerns including, among
                                                                                                                                                                                                                 others, coercion, inadequate price and illiquidity for target stockholders who do not tender into the hostile acquiror&rsquo;s
                                                                                                                                                                                                                 tender offer. None of those concerns are present in the current transaction, which was a negotiated (i.e., friendly) transaction,
                                                                                                                                                                                                                 and in which Parent did not elect (or otherwise have) any representative on the Company Board.</FONT></TD></TR></TABLE>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;</P>

<TABLE CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0" WIDTH="100%" STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt"><TR STYLE="vertical-align: top">
<TD STYLE="width: 1.25in"></TD><TD STYLE="width: 0.25in"><FONT STYLE="font-family: Times New Roman, Times, Serif; font-size: 10pt"><FONT STYLE="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10pt">&middot;</FONT></FONT></TD><TD><FONT STYLE="font-family: Times New Roman, Times, Serif"><U>CymaBay Had Sophisticated Advisors</U>. In addition, the Company Board
approved the entry into the Merger Agreement and the Transactions only after consulting with CymaBay&rsquo;s two nationally recognized
financial advisors and outside legal counsel and after receiving fairness opinions from such financial advisors that the Offer Price to
be paid to holders of Shares (other than Excluded Shares, Tendered Shares or Dissenting Shares, in each case as defined in the Schedule
14D-9) in the Offer and the Merger is fair, from a financial point of view, to such holders.</FONT></TD></TR></TABLE>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0"></P>

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    <DIV STYLE="break-before: page; margin-top: 6pt; margin-bottom: 12pt"><P STYLE="margin: 0pt">&nbsp;</P></DIV>
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<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;&nbsp;</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0"><IMG SRC="tm245976d6_correspimg001.jpg" ALT="">&nbsp;</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0"></P>

<TABLE CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0" STYLE="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%">
  <TR STYLE="vertical-align: bottom">
    <TD STYLE="white-space: nowrap; width: 70%"><FONT STYLE="font-size: 10pt">&nbsp;</FONT></TD>
    <TD STYLE="text-align: right; white-space: nowrap; width: 30%; font: bold 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif"><FONT STYLE="font-size: 10pt">CONFIDENTIAL
    TREATMENT REQUESTED</FONT></TD></TR>
  <TR STYLE="vertical-align: bottom">
    <TD STYLE="white-space: nowrap"><FONT STYLE="font-size: 10pt">&nbsp;</FONT></TD>
    <TD STYLE="text-align: right; white-space: nowrap; font: bold 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif"><FONT STYLE="font-size: 10pt">BY
GILEAD SCIENCES, INC.</FONT></TD></TR>
  </TABLE>
<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;</P>

<TABLE CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0" WIDTH="100%" STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt"><TR STYLE="vertical-align: top">
<TD STYLE="width: 1.25in"></TD><TD STYLE="width: 0.25in"><FONT STYLE="font-family: Times New Roman, Times, Serif; font-size: 10pt"><FONT STYLE="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10pt">&middot;</FONT></FONT></TD><TD><FONT STYLE="font-family: Times New Roman, Times, Serif"><U>No
                                            Coercion or Illiquidity Threats or Concerns</U>. In adopting Rule&nbsp;13e-3, the Staff indicated
                                            that it was also concerned about the potential coercive effect of a going private transaction,
                                            because unaffiliated stockholders might be confronted with the prospect of an illiquid market,
                                            termination of the protections under the federal securities laws and further efforts to eliminate
                                            their equity interest.&nbsp; Again, these concerns do not apply to this all-cash transaction,
                                            because this transaction will either close or it will not&mdash;that is to say, if the Offer
                                            closes, whether or not the stockholder tendered into the Offer, the Merger will close (without
                                            requiring a vote of CymaBay stockholders pursuant to Section&nbsp;251(h)&nbsp;of the Delaware
                                            General Corporation Law) on the morning before the opening of trading on the very next business
                                            day after the Offer closes.&nbsp; If the Offer does not close and the current transaction
                                            is terminated, CymaBay will remain a publicly traded company and all stockholders will be
                                            left with the same liquid market and float and the same protections under the federal securities
                                            laws.&nbsp; Their equity interest will be left intact (subject to the possibility that a
                                            competing bidder acquires the Company).&nbsp; If the current transaction does go through,
                                            all outstanding Shares, including those held by unaffiliated stockholders, will be exchanged
                                            for cash (either in the Offer or in the Merger that will occur on the morning of the next
                                            business day).&nbsp; As such, there will be no need for a market for the Shares or the protections
                                            of the federal securities laws.&nbsp; In short, no CymaBay stockholder will be coerced into
                                            tendering into the Offer for fear of an illiquid market, loss of securities laws protection
                                            or further efforts to eliminate their equity.</FONT></TD></TR></TABLE>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;</P>

<TABLE CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0" WIDTH="100%" STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt"><TR STYLE="vertical-align: top">
<TD STYLE="width: 1.25in"></TD><TD STYLE="width: 0.25in"><FONT STYLE="font-family: Times New Roman, Times, Serif; font-size: 10pt; color: #1a1a1a"><FONT STYLE="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10pt">&middot;</FONT></FONT></TD><TD><FONT STYLE="font-family: Times New Roman, Times, Serif"><U>The
                                            current transaction occurred during a period of elevated market prices of CymaBay common
                                            stock</U>. As noted by the Commission in the Interpretive Release, <FONT STYLE="color: #1a1a1a; background-color: white">Parent
                                            acknowledges the Commission&rsquo;s concerns that, in a Rule&nbsp;13e-3 transaction, an affiliate
                                            may &ldquo;choose a period of depressed market prices to propose the transaction, resulting
                                            in a loss to the unaffiliated security holders&rdquo;. No such concerns are present in the
                                            current transaction. The Shares traded as low as $1.80 per Share on May&nbsp;13, 2022 and,
                                            at the time Parent made its first </FONT>proposal in November&nbsp;2023 to acquire such Shares
                                            at a price of $23.00 per Share in cash<FONT STYLE="color: #1a1a1a; background-color: white">,
                                            the closing price of the Shares was $18.66 per Share. Since Parent&rsquo;s first proposal,
                                            the closing price of the Shares climbed to $22.46 per Share on January&nbsp;25, 2024 and
                                            to $25.69 per Share on February&nbsp;9, 2024.</FONT></FONT></TD></TR></TABLE>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;</P>

<TABLE CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0" WIDTH="100%" STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt"><TR STYLE="vertical-align: top">
<TD STYLE="width: 1.25in"></TD><TD STYLE="width: 0.25in"><FONT STYLE="font-family: Times New Roman, Times, Serif; font-size: 10pt"><FONT STYLE="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10pt">&middot;</FONT></FONT></TD><TD><FONT STYLE="font-family: Times New Roman, Times, Serif"><U>No
                                            Rule&nbsp;13e-3 Concerns are Present</U>. In sum, the opportunities for coercion or abuse
                                            of unaffiliated stockholders that Rule&nbsp;13e-3 was intended to address are not present
                                            in the current transaction.&nbsp; The purposes for which Rule&nbsp;13e-3 was adopted are
                                            not implicated, and therefore the rule&nbsp;should not be deemed applicable to the current
                                            transaction.</FONT></TD></TR></TABLE>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;</P>

<TABLE CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0" WIDTH="100%" STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt"><TR STYLE="vertical-align: top">
<TD STYLE="width: 0.75in"></TD><TD STYLE="width: 0.25in">f.</TD><TD><I>CymaBay directors and management were not &ldquo;engaged&rdquo; in the current transaction.</I></TD></TR></TABLE>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0 0pt 1in">Parent acknowledges that in the Staff&rsquo;s Compliance and
Disclosure Interpretation 201.05, the Staff has taken the position that in situations where members of management ultimately would hold
a material amount of the surviving company&rsquo;s outstanding equity securities, occupy seats on the board of the surviving company in
addition to senior management positions, and otherwise be in a position to &ldquo;control&rdquo; the surviving company within the meaning
of Exchange Act Rule&nbsp;12b-2, Rule&nbsp;13e-3 may apply because such members of management could be deemed to be an affiliate &ldquo;engaged&rdquo;
in the Rule&nbsp;13e-3 transaction.</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0"></P>

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<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0"><IMG SRC="tm245976d6_correspimg001.jpg" ALT="">&nbsp;</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0"></P>

<TABLE CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0" STYLE="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%">
  <TR STYLE="vertical-align: bottom">
    <TD STYLE="white-space: nowrap; width: 70%"><FONT STYLE="font-size: 10pt">&nbsp;</FONT></TD>
    <TD STYLE="text-align: right; white-space: nowrap; width: 30%; font: bold 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif"><FONT STYLE="font-size: 10pt">CONFIDENTIAL
    TREATMENT REQUESTED</FONT></TD></TR>
  <TR STYLE="vertical-align: bottom">
    <TD STYLE="white-space: nowrap"><FONT STYLE="font-size: 10pt">&nbsp;</FONT></TD>
    <TD STYLE="text-align: right; white-space: nowrap; font: bold 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif"><FONT STYLE="font-size: 10pt">BY
GILEAD SCIENCES, INC.</FONT></TD></TR>
  </TABLE>
<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0 0pt 1in">In this case, Parent respectfully advises the Staff that, after
the closing of the current transaction, no member of the Company Board or CymaBay management will own any equity interests in the surviving
company or any affiliate thereof. In addition, no such person has negotiated for or been offered any guaranteed future employment, equity
participation or other change in the terms of such person&rsquo;s post-closing employment in connection with the Transactions. Lastly,
pursuant to the Merger Agreement, all CymaBay directors and officers will be replaced at the closing with the directors and officers of
Purchaser, and no such person has been offered a seat on the surviving company&rsquo;s board or the board of any affiliate of CymaBay,
Parent, or any of their respective affiliates. In light of the foregoing, no member of the Company Board or CymaBay management should
be considered to be &ldquo;engaged&rdquo; in the current transaction or subject to Rule&nbsp;13e-3.</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0 0pt 0.5in">Based on the foregoing, Parent respectfully advises the Staff
that Rule&nbsp;13e-3 of the Exchange Act does not apply to the current transaction.</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0"><U>Conditions of the Offer, page&nbsp;48</U></P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;</P>

<TABLE CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0" WIDTH="100%" STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt"><TR STYLE="vertical-align: top">
<TD STYLE="width: 0.25in"></TD><TD STYLE="width: 0.25in"><B>2.</B></TD><TD><B>Refer to the last paragraph of this section, after the bullet points. We note the disclosure that you may assert a condition &ldquo;regardless
of the circumstances...(including any action or inaction by the Parent or Purchaser)... .&rdquo; A tender offer may be conditioned on
a variety of events and circumstances, provided that they are not within the direct or indirect control of the bidder, and are drafted
with sufficient specificity to allow for objective verification that the conditions have been satisfied. With this in mind, revise the
referenced language to exclude your reference to actions or inactions by Parent or Purchaser.</B></TD></TR></TABLE>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0 0pt 0.5in">In response to the Staff&rsquo;s comment, Parent and Purchaser
have deleted &ldquo;(including any action or inaction by Parent or Purchaser)&rdquo; from the penultimate sentence of Section&nbsp;13
(&ldquo;Conditions of the Offer&rdquo;) of the Offer to Purchase.</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;</P>

<TABLE CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0" WIDTH="100%" STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt"><TR STYLE="vertical-align: top">
<TD STYLE="width: 0.25in"></TD><TD STYLE="width: 0.25in"><B>3.</B></TD><TD><B>We also note that you have reserved the right to assert the occurrence of any of the conditions to the offer &ldquo;at any time
and from time to time.&rdquo; Defining the conditions as an ongoing right that may be asserted at any time and from time to time suggests
that conditions to the offer may be raised or asserted after expiration of the offer. Please be advised that all conditions to the offer,
other than those subject to applicable law, must be satisfied or waived before the expiration of the offer. Revise the disclosure to make
clear that all conditions, other than those subject to government approvals, will be satisfied or waived on or before expiration of the
offer.</B></TD></TR></TABLE>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0 0pt 0.5in">In response to the Staff&rsquo;s comment, Parent and Purchaser
have revised the last sentence of Section&nbsp;13 (&ldquo;Conditions of the Offer&rdquo;) of the Offer to Purchase as follows (deletions
are struck through and additions are underlined for your convenience):</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0 0pt 0.5in">&ldquo;The foregoing conditions are for the sole benefit
of Parent and Purchaser, may be asserted by Parent or Purchaser regardless of the circumstances giving rise to any such conditions <STRIKE>(including
any action or inaction by Parent or Purchaser)</STRIKE>, and (except for the Minimum Tender Condition, the Termination Condition, the
HSR Condition and the Governmental Impediment Condition) may be waived by Parent and Purchaser, in whole or in part, at any time and from
time to time <U>prior to the expiration of the Offer</U>, in their sole and absolute discretion.&rdquo;</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0"></P>

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    <DIV STYLE="break-before: page; margin-top: 6pt; margin-bottom: 12pt"><P STYLE="margin: 0pt">&nbsp;</P></DIV>
    <!-- Field: /Page -->

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;&nbsp;</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0"><IMG SRC="tm245976d6_correspimg001.jpg" ALT="">&nbsp;</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0"></P>

<TABLE CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0" STYLE="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%">
  <TR STYLE="vertical-align: bottom">
    <TD STYLE="white-space: nowrap; width: 70%"><FONT STYLE="font-size: 10pt">&nbsp;</FONT></TD>
    <TD STYLE="text-align: right; white-space: nowrap; width: 30%; font: bold 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif"><FONT STYLE="font-size: 10pt">CONFIDENTIAL
    TREATMENT REQUESTED</FONT></TD></TR>
  <TR STYLE="vertical-align: bottom">
    <TD STYLE="white-space: nowrap"><FONT STYLE="font-size: 10pt">&nbsp;</FONT></TD>
    <TD STYLE="text-align: right; white-space: nowrap; font: bold 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif"><FONT STYLE="font-size: 10pt">BY
GILEAD SCIENCES, INC.</FONT></TD></TR>
  </TABLE>
<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;</P>

<TABLE CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0" WIDTH="100%" STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt"><TR STYLE="vertical-align: top">
<TD STYLE="width: 0.25in"></TD><TD STYLE="width: 0.25in"><B>4.</B></TD><TD><B>Refer to the disclosure in the last paragraph of this section relating to your failure to exercise any of the rights described
in this section. This language indicates that once an offer condition is triggered, you may assert it at any time and from time to time.
Note that when a condition is triggered and you decide to proceed with the offer anyway, we believe that this constitutes a waiver of
the triggered condition(s). Depending on the materiality of the waived condition and the number of days remaining in the offer, you may
be required to extend the offer and recirculate new disclosure to security holders. You may not, as this language seems to imply, simply
fail to assert a triggered offer condition and thus effectively waive it without officially doing so. Please confirm your understanding
supplementally.</B></TD></TR></TABLE>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0 0pt 0.5in">Parent and Purchaser hereby supplementally confirm to the
Staff our understanding of the Staff&rsquo;s position in this regard.</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0">Parent and Purchaser acknowledge that (1)&nbsp;Parent and Purchaser
are responsible for the adequacy and accuracy of the disclosure in their filings, (2)&nbsp;Staff comments or changes to disclosure in
response to Staff comments do not foreclose the Commission from taking any action with respect to the filing and (3)&nbsp;neither Parent
nor Purchaser may assert Staff comments as a defense in any proceeding initiated by the Commission or any person under the federal securities
laws of the United States.</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0">We are grateful for your assistance in this matter. Please do not hesitate
to call me at (650) 752-2008 or Cheryl Chan at (212) 450-4503 with any questions you may have with respect to the foregoing.</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0"></P>

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    <DIV STYLE="break-before: page; margin-top: 6pt; margin-bottom: 12pt"><P STYLE="margin: 0pt">&nbsp;</P></DIV>
    <!-- Field: /Page -->

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0"><IMG SRC="tm245976d6_correspimg001.jpg" ALT="">&nbsp;</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0"></P>

<TABLE CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0" STYLE="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%">
  <TR STYLE="vertical-align: bottom">
    <TD STYLE="white-space: nowrap; width: 70%"><FONT STYLE="font-size: 10pt">&nbsp;</FONT></TD>
    <TD STYLE="text-align: right; white-space: nowrap; width: 30%; font: bold 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif"><FONT STYLE="font-size: 10pt">CONFIDENTIAL
    TREATMENT REQUESTED</FONT></TD></TR>
  <TR STYLE="vertical-align: bottom">
    <TD STYLE="white-space: nowrap"><FONT STYLE="font-size: 10pt">&nbsp;</FONT></TD>
    <TD STYLE="text-align: right; white-space: nowrap; font: bold 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif"><FONT STYLE="font-size: 10pt">BY
GILEAD SCIENCES, INC.</FONT></TD></TR>
  </TABLE>
<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;</P>

<TABLE CELLSPACING="0" CELLPADDING="0" STYLE="width: 100%; font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; border-collapse: collapse">
  <TR STYLE="vertical-align: top">
    <TD STYLE="width: 50%">&nbsp;</TD>
    <TD STYLE="width: 50%"><FONT STYLE="font-family: Times New Roman, Times, Serif; font-size: 10pt">Very truly yours,</FONT></TD></TR>
  <TR STYLE="vertical-align: top">
    <TD>&nbsp;</TD>
    <TD>&nbsp;</TD></TR>
  <TR STYLE="vertical-align: top">
    <TD>&nbsp;</TD>
    <TD STYLE="border-bottom: Black 1pt solid"><FONT STYLE="font-family: Times New Roman, Times, Serif; font-size: 10pt">/s/ Paul S. Scrivano</FONT></TD></TR>
  <TR STYLE="vertical-align: top">
    <TD>&nbsp;</TD>
    <TD><FONT STYLE="font-family: Times New Roman, Times, Serif; font-size: 10pt">Paul S. Scrivano,&nbsp;Esq.</FONT></TD></TR>
  </TABLE>
<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;</P>

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#'__9

end
</TEXT>
</DOCUMENT>
</SEC-DOCUMENT>
