GSK to buy US biotech group Affinivax in $3bn deal
GlaxoSmithKline is buying Boston-based biotech Affinivax in a transaction worth up to $3.3bn, bolstering its vaccines business with new technology.
The UK drugmaker, which is one of the world’s largest vaccine developers, expects to pay $2.1bn up front and “milestone” payments of up to $1.2bn, if Affinivax’s new vaccine for bacterial pneumococcal infections succeeds in trials.
The deal is the largest since a three-part transaction with Swiss drugmaker Novartis in 2014 — when GSK sold its oncology business, bought Novartis’s vaccines business, and the companies merged their consumer health units into a joint venture.
Affinivax has developed a multiple antigen presenting system, which creates vaccines that teach the immune system to recognise a number of pathogens at the same time and create protective antibodies and T cells.
The company has used the technology in the development of a vaccine to prevent pneumococcal infections, such as pneumonia and meningitis. It is moving on to a late-stage trial in adults over 50 after promising results in an earlier study, and is starting paediatric trials this year.
Last year, the US Food and Drug Administration granted “breakthrough therapy” status to this pneumococcal vaccine candidate, an indication it believes this is an innovative technology that the regulator should help speed to market.
Crucially, the technology could also be applied to create vaccines for other conditions, including hospital-acquired infections.
Hal Barron, GSK’s chief scientific officer, said the acquisition would strengthen the company’s vaccines pipeline and expand the UK drugmaker’s presence in the Boston area, which dominates global biotech.
“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,” he said.
The acquisition comes after GSK announced plans to buy blood cancer specialist Sierra Oncology for £1.5bn in April, as part of plans to strengthen its drug pipeline after pressure from activist investors including US hedge fund Elliott Management.
It is also preparing to spin off its consumer health division in a new company called Haleon in July.
This will leave the vaccines and pharmaceuticals divisions more exposed to investor scrutiny but will also give the company a windfall of about £7bn to invest in its drug pipeline.
GSK has long been a leader in vaccines, even though its main contribution to the Covid-19 vaccine race was to provide an adjuvant — which boosts efficacy — to other vaccine makers, including Sanofi. It is forecasting soaring sales of its Shingrix vaccine for shingles, and is investing in next-generation mRNA vaccines with German partner CureVac.
Steven Brugger, Affinivax’s chief executive, said the company had created a pipeline of new vaccines over eight years from the initial development of the platform at Boston Children’s Hospital.
He said GSK’s “significant capabilities” would help it develop vaccines that “combat novel and resistant infectious diseases for which there are no effective immunisation strategies available today”.