Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free
Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.
GSK has agreed to pay up to $2bn for a drug under development to treat common liver diseases linked to obesity and alcohol, as it pushes to boost its pipeline of potential blockbuster medicines.
The UK-listed pharmaceuticals group said on Wednesday it would give US company Boston Pharmaceuticals $1.2bn upfront, and pay as much $800mn in further milestone payments for efimosfermin.
The purchase comes as investor worries about the strength of GSK’s drug pipeline have weighed on the share price over the past year, even as its first-quarter results last month beat expectations. It launched a rare £2bn share buyback in February.
Efimosfermin, which is ready for final-stage human trials, is designed to treat and prevent the progression of steatotic liver disease (SLD), which affects an estimated one in 20 people worldwide.
Alcohol-related liver disease, a type of SLD, is thought to affect about 26mn people and is a leading cause of liver transplants in the US.
Efimosfermin has the potential to “define a new standard of care” thanks to its monthly dosing regime and tolerability profile for patients, said Tony Wood, GSK’s chief scientific officer.
“Efimosfermin will significantly expand our hepatology [liver-related] pipeline and provide us the opportunity to develop a new potential best-in-class medicine with first launch expected in 2029,” Wood said.
End-stage liver diseases are associated with multiple morbidities and cause “substantial and disproportionate” healthcare costs, the company said. Interventions that ease these could save the US healthcare system between $40bn and $100bn over the next two decades, it said.
GSK shares rose about 0.75 per cent in early trading in London.
Health experts have raised an alarm about soaring global rates of obesity, which is now estimated to affect more than 1bn people. Diabetes- and weight-loss drugs are starting to have an impact, but their uptake is still limited by supplies and costs.
