GSK Plc agreed to buy the closely held US biotech Aiolos Bio Inc., spending as much as $1.4 billion to gain a promising respiratory medicine. Aiolos has an experimental drug ready to enter mid-stage tests for adults with asthma, although the monoclonal antibody has potential in other diseases related to inflammation such as chronic rhinosinusitis and nasal polyps, GSK said Tuesday.
GSK is moving swiftly to bolster its pipeline after Chief Executive Officer Emma Walmsley signaled she was looking for acquisitions in areas such as infectious diseases and cancer. The UK drugmaker raised its profit and sales guidance for a second time in November as demand surged for its vaccine to prevent a common respiratory virus.
The stock rose less than 1% in early London trading. It has gained about 10% in the past 12 months, outperforming rivals including AstraZeneca Plc, Sanofi and Roche Holding AG.
GSK will pay $1 billion upfront and the rest in potential regulatory milestones, it said. The UK drugmaker will also be responsible for success-based payments and tiered royalties to Jiangsu Hengrui Pharmaceuticals Co. Ltd., which has licensed Aiolos’s lead medicine, called AIO-001.
Walmsley said Monday that she’s watching for deals that would expand the UK company’s existing pipeline. GSK is pursuing a number of development areas as it prepares for the loss of exclusivity on some of its best-selling drugs, including a key HIV treatment later this decade.
“I feel really good on the progress we are making for the chapter beyond that over the next five years,” Walmsley said in an interview at the JPMorgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco.
