GSK has agreed to acquire California-based pharmaceutical firm Rapt Therapeutics for 2.2 billion US dollars (£1.6 billion), gaining access to a promising food allergy treatment. The London-listed company will pay 58 US dollars (£43) per share for the developer of novel therapies for inflammatory and immunologic diseases.
The acquisition centres on ozureprubart, an antibody in phase two clinical trials (testing for safety and efficacy). The treatment offers preventive protection against food allergens with dosing every 12 weeks, a significant improvement over existing therapies that require injections every two to four weeks. Existing food allergy treatments exclude around a quarter of patients.
Market opportunity
The deal addresses a substantial unmet medical need. 17 million people in the United States are diagnosed with food allergies, with over 1.3 million suffering from severe reactions. Most patients requiring treatment are children.
Tony Wood, chief scientific officer for GSK, said: "The addition of ozureprubart brings another promising new, potential best-in-class treatment to GSK's pipeline. Food allergies cause severe health impacts to patients, with existing treatment requiring injections as frequently as every two weeks. Ozureprubart offers the opportunity to bring sustained protection to patients with dosing every 12 weeks, and is consistent with our approach to acquire assets that address validated targets and where there is clear unmet medical need."
Deal timeline
GSK expects to complete the transaction during the first quarter of 2026. GSK will gain global rights to the ozureprubart clinical programme, excluding China.
Note: This article was created with Artificial Intelligence (AI).
