RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK – Drug giant GSK is making a multi-billion-dollar deal to strengthen its vaccine lineup by acquiring US-based biopharma firm Affinivax in a deal worth as much as $3.3 billion.
GSK (NYSE: GSK), which has a substantial presence in the Research Triangle region, announced early Tuesday the deal for the Massachusetts-based company that is developing leading-edge treatments targeting pneumonia and pneumococcal diseases.
It’s the second major deal in less than two months for London-based GSK, which is preparing to spin off its consumer products group in coming months.
“The proposed acquisition further strengthens our vaccines R&D pipeline, provides access to a new, potentially disruptive technology, and broadens GSK’s existing scientific footprint in the Boston area,” said Dr Hal Barron, chief scientific officer and president of research and development for GSK, in a statement. “We look forward to working with the many talented people at Affinivax to combine our industry-leading development, manufacturing, and commercialisation capabilities to make this exciting new technology available to those in need.”
GSK said it will pay $2.1 billion upfront in the deal plus as much as another $1.2 billion in developmental milestones.
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GSK described Affinivax technology as “Multiple Antigen Presenting System (MAPS), a novel technology that supports higher valency than conventional conjugation technologies, enabling broader coverage against prevalent pneumococcal serotypes and potentially creating higher immunogenicity than current vaccines.”
Its “most advanced vaccine candidate” has “24 pneumococcal polysaccharides plus two conserved pneumococcal proteins (compared to up to 20 serotypes in currently approved vaccines). A 30-plus valent pneumococcal candidate vaccine is also in pre-clinical development,” GSK added.
Affinivax launched eight years ago.
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