Key Takeaways
- GSK PLC on Tuesday announced a deal to acquire asthma drugmaker Aiolos Bio Inc. for $1.4 billion.
- The deal includes a $1 billion upfront payment and $400 million in success-based milestone payments.
- Aiolos was founded in 2023 and was licensed to a Chinese firm, which will also receive royalties from GSK.
British pharmaceutical giant GSK PLC on Tuesday announced a $1.4 billion deal to acquire Aiolos Bio Inc., boosting its respiratory portfolio.
GSK will pay $1 billion in an upfront payment, with an additional $400 million tied to success-based regulatory-milestone payments, a GSK company statement said.
Aiolos was founded last year and has bases in San Francisco and London. The deal gives GSK access to AIO-001, a potentially best-in-class asthma treatment. The treatment had been exclusively licensed to Aiolos outside of China by Jiangsu Hengrui Pharmaceuticals Co. GSK said it would also pay tiered royalties to Jiangsu Hengrui.
AIO-001 has the potential to be administered every six months, bringing relief to 315 million asthma patients, according to GSK. The company has been expanding its respiratory portfolio after the launch of a respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine. The company is turning to new products as it deals with the challenges of patent expirations and falling revenue from its core portfolio over the next six years.
Chief Scientific Officer Tony Wood mentioned GSK’s “proud heritage and deep development expertise” in respiratory treatments and said AIO-001 could help 40% of severe asthma patients with low T2 inflammation where treatment is still required.
GSK shares were up about 0.5% in midday trading Tuesday in New York. The day’s rise contributed to a gain of 14% for the stock in the last year.