Dive Brief:
- GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) will buy Bristol-Meyers Squibb's HIV pipeline for potentially up to $1.5 billion, in a deal announced today.
- GSK's HIV business, ViiV Healthcare, will acquire Bristol's late-stage HIV assets and its preclinical/discovery stage HIV portfolio in two separate deals. One late-stage asset, fostemsavir, is in phase 3 development and has received a Breakthrough Therapy Designation from the FDA
- The deal for the late-stage HIV assets will include an upfront payment of $317 million, with further milestones up to $518 million. For the preclinical portfolio, ViiV will pay $33 million upfront and further milestones of $587 million.
Dive Insight:
With these two deals, GSK strengthens its HIV business, an area in which the company has already excelled. It will acquire three late stage assets, including the aforementioned fostemsavir along with a maturation inhibitor in phase 2 development.
GSK expects fostemsavir will be filed for regulatory approval some time in 2018.
ViiV Healthcare is majority owned by GSK, with Pfizer and Shionogi holding minority stakes. The transactions are expected to close during the first half of 2016 and a number of Bristol drug discovery employees will be offered the opportunity to transfer to ViiV .