GSK Closes Year with Three Strategic BD Deals Spanning ADCs, Oral RNA Therapeutics, and Neurodegenerative Disease

Dec 06, 2024 18:52 CST Updated 18:52

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As the 2024 Christmas season approaches, GlaxoSmithKline PLC. (GSK) in London, UK, is exceptionally busy at the end of the year.

On December 5 local time, GSK announced the third deal of the week.BD Deal.This collaboration is with the Danish biotechnology company Muna Therapeutics, with an upfront payment of up to 33.5 million euros.

GSK's first BD deal this week has once again placed the assignee, ImmuneOnco Biopharmaceuticals, in the spotlight.

December 4,GSK announced withDuality Biologics has oneADC Candidate DrugDB-1324Reach cooperation.If GSK subsequently chooses to exercise its overseas rights, DualityBio will receive a $30 million upfront payment and up to $975 million in milestone payments.

Previously, DualityBio has reached multiple licensing and cooperation agreements with several pharmaceutical companies, including BioNTech, BeiGene, and Adcendo. According to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange prospectus disclosed by DualityBio in August this year, the total value of related transactions exceeds 4 billion US dollars. The continuous deals have made DualityBio regarded by many industry insiders as an "outstanding performer in going global."

As for DB-1324, the main subject of the deal, specific information has not yet been disclosed. The press release simply described it as a "potential best-in-class" treatment targeting "gastrointestinal cancers." The target is unknown, but industry insiders speculate that it may be cadherin CDH17. Currently, drugs targeting this molecule are still in early clinical or preclinical development stages. Key players include BI, Arbele (Aibole Pharmaceutical), and Chimeric Therapeutics, among which only a few companies focus on ADC-based drug development.

GSK, as a vaccine giant, oncology is not its traditional stronghold, especially with the withdrawal of the BCMA ADC drug Blenrep from the market. However,GSK has not abandoned the subsequent development of Blenrep, hoping to rebuild it through combination therapy.BlenrepPast Glory.

In the field of solid tumors, GSK has successively licensed-in from Mersana., Hansoh Pharmaceutical has introduced three ADCs targeting HER2, B7-H4, and B7-H3, respectively. This collaboration withDualityThe collaboration in biology is another boost by GSK to ADC for solid tumors.

This week, GSK's second deal focused on the field of oral RNA small molecules.

On December 5, GSK announced a multi-year, multi-target strategic research collaboration agreement with Rgenta Therapeutics. According to the agreement, the former will use the latter’s technology platform to develop novel oral small-molecule RNA splicing modulators for specified targets. In return, the latter will receive a $46 million upfront cash payment and pre-option milestone payments, and may also obtain up to nearly $500 million in milestone payments per target.

Rgenta is a clinical-stage Biotech dedicated to developing a series of targeted RNA oral small molecule drugs for cancer and neurological disorders. Its core pipeline, RGT-61159, is currently in Phase 1a/b studies for the treatment of adenoid cystic carcinoma, colorectal cancer, and other solid tumors.

GSK's investment enthusiasm for RNA drugs is no less than that for ADC.In 2019, GSK acquired bepirovirsen from Ionis. Currently, this drug is the fastest-progressing RNA drug in development in the field of hepatitis B.(Recommended reading: GSK terminates phase II clinical trial of hepatitis B vaccine); thereafter, GSK again withCureVac, Arrowhead, Wave Life Sciences, Janssen and other pharmaceutical companies have reached cooperation, introducing some RNA candidate drugs.

What is particularly worth mentioning is that,Two months ago, GSK and its partner Wave Life Sciences announced that their RNA editing therapy WVE-006 had achieved clinical proof of concept. Although still in the early stages of clinical development, WVE-006, as the first RNA editing therapy to enter clinical trials, represents a significant milestone.

GSK's third deal shifts focus to the neurodegenerative disease field.

On December 6, GSK announced a collaboration with Muna. According to the agreement,GSKUtilizeMunaProprietary MiND-MAP platform for discovering and validating innovative drug targets for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease.MunaWill receive an upfront payment of 33.5 million euros and potentially milestone payments of 140 million euros for each target.

The MiND-MAP platform is the core of this transaction. This platform combines single-cell spatial multi-omics and bioinformatics technologies to identify genetic, cellular, and other molecular mechanisms associated with specific diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease.

Notably, last month GSK just established a multi-target strategic alliance with Vesalius Therapeutics toDiscovery and Development of New Therapies for Parkinson's Disease and Another Undisclosed Neurodegenerative Disease

In addition, GSK announced this week the expansion of its partnership with ZF Bio. ZF Bio has not only secured the 10-year sales rights for GSK’s RSV vaccine Arexvy but also extended the import and distribution cooperation for the shingles vaccine Shingrix in the Chinese market by five years.

Although Shingrix is a herpes zoster vaccine, in this year's Altshuler conferenceAt the Alzheimer's Association International Conference, GSK announced its research findings on dementia prevention. Compared to the control group vaccinated with Pneumovax 23 (PPSV23) and Zostavax (Zoster Live Vaccine, ZVL), the group vaccinated with Shingrix showed a significant 24% reduction in dementia risk within three years, with the decrease remaining at 20% five years later.

Summary:

BD transactions in the innovative drug field are full of uncertainties, and GSK is well aware of this. In 2018, GSK acquired Tesaro for $5.1 billion to obtain the PD-1 therapy Jemperli, which only generated $8 million in sales in the first half of 2022, far below expectations; during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, GSK bet on the mRNA vaccine company Curevac, but the results were unsatisfactory; in 2022, GSK acquired Affinivax for $3.3 billion to obtain the pneumococcal vaccine AFX3772, which has now been terminated in Phase 2 clinical trials...

After successfully divesting its Consumer Healthcare (CHC) division in 2022, GSK refocused on four core therapeutic areas in biopharmaceuticals: infectious diseases, HIV, immunology/respiratory diseases, and oncology. The first three areas are GSK's strengths and primary sources of revenue, while oncology, though relatively weaker, is highly valuable.

GSK, having learned from past mistakes, seems to be adjusting its BD strategy by adopting a more diversified investment approach to reduce risks and increase the chances of success. Large deals exceeding 5 billion are gradually decreasing, spreading investments across different baskets, just like these three deals this week—different fields, different drug modalities.

By the end of the year,If GSK does not reach any other BD deals, it will conclude the final month of 2024 with a "sprinkling pepper" BD model.

References:

1. GSK Official Website

2. Snowball

3. In-depth Analysis of Global MNCs (10) - The Glory, Current Status, and Future Outlook of GSK (Drug Hunter Club)

4. New Findings from GSK's Shingrix Herpes Zoster Vaccine Study: Significant Reduction in Dementia Risk, A New Breakthrough in Neurodegenerative Disease Prevention (Medical Miao Vision)

5. Other Public Information

Cover image source: pixabay

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