- London-listed GSK has seen its share price rise 13% in the last year
GSK has acquired Aiolos Bio in a deal worth up to $1.4bn (£1.1bn), the pharmaceutical giant said on Thursday.
London-listed GSK said the acquisition, for which $1 billion will be paid upfront followed by another $400 million in performance-linked payments, would unlock access to Aiolos’ long-acting antithymic stromal lymphopoietin treatment .
Tony Wood, Chief Scientific Officer at GSK, said: “Given the limited treatment options for patients with asthma with low T2 inflammation, we hope to use our expertise in deep breathing to potentially offer a long-acting biologic to a broader portion of patients. 315 million people who suffer from asthma. patients living with asthma.’
Opportunities: Tony Wood is GSK’s chief scientific officer
GSK shares They were down 0.59 per cent or 9.8 pence at 1,658.20 pence on Thursday, having risen more than 13 per cent in the last year.
The Aiolos acquisition includes AIO-001, a long-acting antithymic stromal lymphopoietin monoclonal antibody ready to enter Phase II clinical development for the treatment of adult patients with asthma.
It also has potential for additional indications, such as chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps, according to the duo.
Aiolos CEO Khurem Farooq said: “We believe this transaction speaks to the high potential of our long-acting anti-TSLP monoclonal antibody.”
“By joining GSK, we are confident that we will be able to rapidly advance this therapy in hopes of significantly reducing the treatment burden for patients.”
Deal: GSK’s acquisition of Aiolos Bio expected to help adult asthma patients
Last month, GSK said it had made sales of £30.3bn in the last year, thanks to the launch of a new vaccine and growing demand for cancer drugs.
The FTSE 100 group’s revenue rose 5 per cent in 2023 as vaccine sales rose 25 per cent, boosted by a £3.4bn contribution from Shingrix, a shingles vaccine.
Arexvy, a respiratory syncytial virus vaccine launched last year, generated more than £1.2 billion in revenue.
GSK expects its adjusted earnings per share to increase between 6 and 9 percent in 2024, thanks to sales growth of 5 to 7 percent, higher than forecasts.
Cancer drug turnover rose by more than 20 per cent to £731 million, driven by the adoption of Jemperli and Zejula, which target certain types of endometrial cancer.
Earlier this month, US regulators put GSK’s treatment for hepatitis B on an accelerated schedule.
In a boost for pharma giant and FTSE 100 boss Emma Walmsley, Bepirovirsen is likely to hit the market ahead of schedule.
The Food and Drug Administration moved the treatment to the fast track following a request from GSK that the drug should be fast-tracked through the review process to “address an unmet medical need.”
Chronic hepatitis B, which affects around 300 million people worldwide, is a viral infection of the liver that can sometimes be asymptomatic. But if left untreated, it can cause liver damage and increase the risk of cancer.