GSK to buy US biotech group Affinivax in €3.1bn deal

GlaxoSmithKline is buying Boston-based biotech Affinivax in a transaction worth up to $3.3 billion (€3.1 billion), bolstering its vaccine business with new technology.

The UK drug maker, which is one of the world’s largest vaccine developers, expects to pay $2.1 billion up front and “milestone” payments of up to $1.2 billion, if Affinivax’s new vaccine for bacterial pneumococcal infections succeeds in trials.

The deal is the largest since a three-part transaction with Swiss drug maker Novartis in 2014 — when GSK sold its oncology business, bought Novartis’s vaccine 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.

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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 aged 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. — Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2022