GSK has agreed to acquire RAPT Therapeutics for up to $2.2 billion, a move aimed at strengthening its immunology portfolio. The UK-based pharmaceutical company will pay $58.00 per share at closing, representing a significant premium over RAPT's closing stock price of $35.10 on January 16.
Through this acquisition, GSK secures global commercial rights outside China, Taiwan, Macau, and Hong Kong to ozureprubart, a long-acting anti-immunoglobulin E prophylactic food allergy candidate. The drug is currently being studied in the Phase IIb prestIgE trial, which is enrolling patients in the United States, Australia, and Canada. Results from this study are expected in 2027.
GSK stated that if approved for food allergy, ozureprubart could become a "best-in-class" medication. The company highlighted its once-quarterly dosing schedule as a key differentiator from existing therapies that require administration every two to four weeks.
Following the announcement, RAPT's stock value rose in pre-market trading to $57.41 as of 5:50 AM ET, up from $35.10 at the close on January 16.
This transaction follows other recent GSK initiatives in immunology. The company previously entered a deal worth up to $12 billion with Hengrui Pharma covering immunology, respiratory, and oncology assets, including the PDE3/4 inhibitor HRS-9821 for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. In late 2024, GSK also established a five-year, £50 million research agreement with the University of Cambridge to develop treatments for immune dysfunction diseases.
At the 44th Annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference, GSK Chief Scientific Officer Tony Wood noted the company plans to use artificial intelligence in early-stage research to build its pipeline and address potential losses from drug patent expirations.
The pharmaceutical industry faces significant patent expirations for blockbuster therapies by 2030. GlobalData, parent company of Pharmaceutical Technology, estimates these losses could total $230 billion in the US market between 2025 and 2030, affecting more than half of the top 15 pharmaceutical companies.
The GSK-RAPT deal concludes a relatively quiet J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference for major transactions. Only two other billion-dollar deals were announced: Boston Scientific's acquisition of Penumbra and an expanded partnership between Eli Lilly and NVIDIA. Earlier in January, AbbVie initiated a $5.6 billion licensing agreement with Chinese pharmaceutical company RemeGen.