London
GSK snaps up smaller US rival: Drugs giant GSK is to buy US firm Aiolos Bio, which makes drugs to treat asthma, for $1.4bn, says Ian Johnston in the Financial Times. GSK is in the midst of an acquisition spree of bolt-on deals in respiratory and infectious diseases. It made five deals last year and plans to make further acquisitions in 2024 in a bid to grow market share, having long lagged its Anglo-Swedish rival AstraZeneca. The deal also marks a swift clear out for Aiolos Bio, which only launched three months ago after raising $245m from investors. Aiolos Bio’s AIO-001 asthma treatment, which is ready to enter mid-stage clinical trials, is injected twice a year and reduces the use of inhalers. This would rival AstraZeneca’s asthma drug Tezspire, which is administered once a month. As part of the deal, GSK will pay $1bn up front and up to $400m after passing certain regulatory hurdles, as well as some royalties to China’s Jiangsu Hengrui Pharmaceuticals, which licensed the asthma therapy to Aiolos Bio.
