LONDON, Dec 18 (Reuters) - British pharmaceutical companyGlaxoSmithKline said it would buy HIV drugs at differentstages of development from U.S. rival Bristol-Myers Squibb in a deal which would boost its ViiV Healthcare unit.
GSK said it would pay an initial $317 million to buy thelate stage assets of Bristol-Myers's HIV research assets and $33million for the preclinical and discovery stage assets, withboth deals subject to further payments of over $500 milliondependent on commercial milestones.
HIV treatment is one of the strongest parts of GSK'sportfolio.
(Reporting by Sarah Young, Editing by Paul Sandle)