GlaxoSmithKline is close to a $1 billion deal to develop a biotech drug to treat rare tumors

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GlaxoSmithKline is close to concluding a $1 billion deal to buy a US biotechnology company developing a treatment for rare gastrointestinal tumors, as the British pharmaceutical company races to expand its oncology business.

The British group is in advanced talks to buy privately held IDRx, which counts venture capital firms Andreessen Horowitz and RA Capital as well as private equity giant Blackstone among its backers, according to people close to the discussions. The biotech, which was last valued at $430 million in a funding round in August, could be sold for up to $1 billion, they added.

The sale is likely to be announced before the JPMorgan Healthcare conference in San Francisco next week, where a series of biotech deals are typically unveiled, the sources said, but they added that negotiations were ongoing and that the deal could fall through or another buyer could fall through. appear.

GlaxoSmithKline He declined to comment. IDRx did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

IDRx is conducting early trials of its targeted treatment for patients with a type of cancer called gastrointestinal tumor, or GIST, which affects 4,000 to 6,000 people each year in the United States.

Available treatments for GIST are not very effective due to resistance mutations in the cancer in 80 percent of cases. The experimental drug IDRx has shown early signs of addressing this issue.

In a phase 1 trial in patients who had already tried two other treatments that had stopped working, IDRx stopped the growth of their tumors for 12.9 months.

The acquisition of IDRx would help GSK expand its oncology business, which is smaller than that of competitors such as Merck and AstraZeneca.

The UK drugmaker has prioritized add-on acquisitions worth about $1 billion, partly because it has a smaller deal budget than many of its peers. But is it also in line with current industry trends: in 2024, most of them will be Pharma Groups Avoid larger deals In favor of small acquisitions.

GlaxoSmithKline’s cancer drug sales increased 94 percent year-on-year to more than $1 billion in the first three quarters of 2024. This included a contribution from drug O’Jara, which the company acquired as part of its venture. Buying Sierra Oncology for $1.7 billion in 2022.

This year, GlaxoSmithKline hopes to return another drug, Blenrip, to treat a type of blood cancer, to the US market, after it voluntarily withdrew the treatment in 2022 because it failed to outperform rivals in a trial.

GlaxoSmithKline announced New results For the drug in November, “statistically significant and clinically meaningful” effects were reported for Blenrep when it was used in combination with another proven treatment.

In oncology, GlaxoSmithKline has built a portfolio of “antibody drug conjugates,” a new type of chemotherapy that aims to kill cancer cells while sparing healthy cells. Late last year, it signed a deal worth up to $975 million with Shanghai-based Duality Bio to buy an antibody drug to treat gastrointestinal cancer, its third deal with ADC in 18 months.