GSK to buy food allergy drug maker RAPT in $2.2bn deal | GSK
GSK, the UK’s second-largest drugmaker, has announced a $2.2bn (£1.6bn) deal to buy a California biotech company developing a drug aimed at protecting against serious food allergies such as nuts, milk and eggs.
It is the first major deal announced by GSK’s new chief executive Luke Miels, who joined the London-based company as commercial director in 2017 and took over from Emma Walmsley at the start of the year.
RAPT Therapeutics develops treatments for people with inflammatory and immunological diseases. Its main drug is ozureprubart (Ozu), a long-acting treatment for food allergies in children and adults that is in mid-stage clinical trials in the United States. It is designed to bind to and neutralize IgE, which is the underlying driving force of food allergy reactions.
Ozu is being tested on people with peanut, milk, egg, cashew or walnut allergies. Data from the trial is expected to be available next year, and late-stage clinical trials starting in the second half of 2027 will focus on at-risk children and adults.
If the drug is successful in these trials, it could be launched in 2031 and is seen as a potential “blockbuster” drug with annual sales of at least $1 billion for GSK, which is targeting total revenues of £40 billion by that year.
Current treatment of food allergies may require injections every two to four weeks, which can be a significant burden, especially since most patients are children. Ozu is given every 12 weeks and may be a new option for the 25% of patients who are not suitable for current treatment.
Currently, Novartis’ Xolair, with U.S. sales expected to top $1.5 billion this year, is the only FDA-approved antibody designed to target and block IgE.
More than 17 million people in the United States are diagnosed with food allergies, and more than 1.3 million suffer severe reactions; This leads to more than 3 million people going to hospital and emergency care each year.
Around 6% of adults in the UK – According to the Food Standards Agency, 2.4 million people have food allergies. Peanuts and tree nuts such as hazelnuts, walnuts and almonds are likely to cause an allergic reaction. Allergies to milk, fish and seafood are less common. While childhood food allergies continue into early adulthood, about half of food allergies develop in late adulthood.
GSK chief scientific officer Tony Wood said: “The addition of ozureprubart brings a promising new, potentially best-in-class treatment to GSK’s product range. Food allergies cause serious health impacts on patients.”
GSK is paying RAPT shareholders $58 per share. Nasdaq-listed shares rose 63% to $57.40 in premarket trading, while GSK’s shares fell 1.5%.
This acquisition gives GSK global rights to ozureprubart, excluding mainland China, Macau, Taiwan and Hong Kong.
