GSK has announced that it has entered an agreement to acquire the US biopharmaceutical company, Nuvalent, for £8bn.

The pharma giant said the deal is consistent with its strategy of acquiring assets that have "validated targets and meaningfully address efficacy and/or tolerability limitations of existing standard-of-care therapies".

The deal includes products in a single transaction, two of which have received FDA Breakthrough Therapy and Organ Drug Designations.

Under the terms of the merger acquisition, GSK will acquire all of Nuvalent’s outstanding share of Class A and Class B common stock at a purchase price of $124 per share in cash, which represents a 40% premium on the US firm’s last closing price.

GSK stated that there is no change to its full-year guidance range of 7% to 9% core operating profit and core earnings per share growth, with the acquisition expected to revenue growth from 2027.

CEO at GSK, Luke Miels, stated: "Today's acquisition is a multi-product deal, consistent with our approach to acquire assets that have clinically proven targets and meaningfully address an efficacy and/or tolerability gap. The 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 with Ris-Rez, our B7-H3 targeted ADC in phase III clinical development."

CEO at Nuvalent, James Porter, concluded: "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. GSK's proven track record, infrastructure, and expertise will support the successful commercialisation of zidesamtinib and neladalkib, as well as accelerate advancement of our broader discovery pipeline."

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