Pharmaceutical giant GSK has agreed to buy US cancer drug firm Nuvalent in a 10.6 billion US dollar (£8 billion) deal as it looks to expand its cancer treatment offering.
The UK group will pay 124 US dollars (£92.71) a share for Nasdaq-listed Nuvalent, which is based in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
It is thought to be GSK’s biggest deal in more than a decade.
GSK said the acquisition would see it add three products to tackle lung cancer “in a single transaction”, two of which are under review by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for approval.
Nuvalent has two experimental lung cancer treatments in late-stage development – zidesamtinib and neladalkib.
GSK chief executive Luke Miels, who took on the role in January, said Nuvalent’s “two lead products are potential best-in-class assets that could launch this year if approved by the FDA and offer significant new treatment options to patients with two forms of non-small cell lung cancer”.
“The acquisition provides GSK with immediate new sales growth opportunities, improving profit contributions from 2027, and a platform in lung cancer for rapid expansion,” he added.
GSK said the deal would cost it around 9.4 billion dollars (£7.1 billion) on a net basis, as Nuvalent brings cash with it.
It will add to revenue growth from 2027 and help it towards its target of more than £40 billion in sales by 2031, while also helping support earnings after the loss of patent protection for HIV drug dolutegravir over 2028 to 2030, according to GSK.
James Porter, chief executive of Nuvalent, said: “Since our founding, we have leveraged our deep expertise in chemistry and structure-based drug design to develop a portfolio of novel, potentially best-in-class kinase inhibitors.
“Our close collaboration with leading physician-scientists and patient advocates has driven remarkable enrolment, accelerating development and building confidence in the clinical profile of these drugs.
“We’re excited that GSK has recognised the significant value these programmes can offer patients and shares our vision for practice-changing innovation.”
