GSK plc will pay Frontier Biotechnologies Inc. $40 million up front and up to $963 million in milestone payments to license two of Frontier’s small interfering RNA-based assets in the field of immunology.
GSK plc is paying $950 million cash to acquire 100% of 35Pharma Inc.’s equity and pipeline, including phase II-ready candidate HS-235 for pulmonary hypertension. The acquisition agreement comes a day after GSK added two small interfering RNA assets from Nanjing, China-based Frontier Biotechnologies Inc. through a license deal reaching up to $1 billion.
Frontier Biotechnologies Inc. has entered into an exclusive licensing agreement with GSK plc whereby GSK will obtain exclusive worldwide rights to develop, manufacture and commercialize two of Frontier’s small interfering RNA (siRNA) pipeline products.
The pressure on U.S. drug prices continues, with the CMS lining up the drugs for round 3 of negotiations, which will set maximum fair prices to go into effect in 2028. The slate includes 15 drugs and, for the first time, opens the negotiations to Part B drugs, as well as Part D. Consequently, seven of the 15 selected drugs are biologics.
Shionogi & Co. Ltd. and Fosun Pharmaceutical (Group) Co. Ltd. were involved in separate divestment transactions this week, with Shionogi buying out Pfizer Inc.’s stake in Viiv Healthcare Ltd. to lift its holding to 21.7%.
Shionogi & Co. Ltd. and Fosun Pharmaceutical (Group) Co. Ltd. were involved in separate divestment transactions this week, with Shionogi buying out Pfizer Inc.’s stake in Viiv Healthcare Ltd. to lift its holding to 21.7%.
CD122 – shared beta subunit of the IL-15 and IL-2 receptors, two targets for the figurative price of one – has drawn the eyes of many drug developers, among them Anaptysbio Inc., which will roll out phase Ib results in celiac disease during the fourth quarter of this year with ANB-033. The San Diego-based firm intends to weigh the candidate in a second inflammatory disease. A phase Ib study with ANB-033 in eosinophilic esophagitis will begin this quarter.
After passing on one skinny label case a few years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to delve into the dark hole the Federal Circuit has dug for drug label carveouts that allow generic drugs and biosimilars to come to market even though some indications of the reference drug may still be protected by exclusivities or patents. The high court granted cert Jan. 16 to Hikma Pharmaceuticals v. Amarin Pharma Inc., which revolves around Hikma’s marketing of its generic version of Amarin’s blockbuster drug, Vascepa (icosapent ethyl).
Offering $2.2 billion for Rapt Therapeutics Inc. and gaining its long-acting lead drug, ozureprubart, for food allergy and other indications, GSK plc is positioning itself to compete with market leader Xolair (omalizumab), developed by Roche AG’s Genentech unit and Novartis AG.
The value of biopharma deals involving nonprofit partners declined sharply over the past several years, falling to about $127.43 million in 2025 after exceeding $21.4 billion in 2021. The 2025 total also represents a steep drop from 2024’s $754.56 million.
