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LONDON — GSK said Tuesday it would buy the cancer-focused biotech Nuvalent in a deal worth $10.6 billion, as the British firm continues its expansion in oncology.
The deal is the latest in a run of biopharma acquisitions in recent months, as large and even midsize companies have sought to bolster their pipelines as some of their key products face looming generic competition. The GSK-Nuvalent deal is one of the largest in the recent buying spree, and GSK’s largest in years.
GSK is paying $124 per share for Cambridge, Mass.-based Nuvalent, a 26 percent premium to the biotech’s average share price over the last 30 days. With the cash acquired through the deal, GSK is spending about $9.4 billion on the pickup.
Nuvalent designs targeted cancer therapies, with two molecules, zidesamtinib and neladalkib, both under Food and Drug Administration review for types of non-small cell lung cancer. They could be approved this year.
The deal will give GSK, which has focused on gynecologic cancers as well as multiple myeloma, a broader lung cancer portfolio. It also includes an experimental drug that is in Phase 1 studies for another form of non-small cell lung cancer.
GSK has its own antibody-drug conjugate known as ris-rez that it’s testing in lung cancer.
“Today’s acquisition is a multi-product deal, consistent with our approach to acquire assets that have clinically proven targets and meaningfully address an efficacy and/or tolerability gap,” GSK CEO Luke Miels said in a statement.
Miels, who succeeded Emma Walmsley at the start of the year, has sought to project that he is moving GSK in a bolder, more agile direction, including with the company’s ambitions in oncology. The firm had previously gotten out of the field before returning to it about eight years ago.
Under Miels, GSK has already pursued smaller deals, picking up companies focused on food allergies and lung disease. The company has a goal of reaching 40 billion pounds ($53.5 billion) in sales by 2031, even as it faces the loss of patent protection on a core plank of its HIV franchise later this decade.
The Financial Times first reported the deal was in the works.
Shares of Nuvalent are up 13 percent over the past year as it reported positive trial results.
“We’re excited that GSK has recognized the significant value these programs can offer patients and shares our vision for practice-changing innovation,” Nuvalent CEO James Porter said in a statement. “GSK’s proven track record, infrastructure, and expertise will support the successful commercialization of zidesamtinib and neladalkib, as well as accelerate advancement of our broader discovery pipeline.”
The deal is expected to close in the third quarter.