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LONDON, April 15 (Reuters) - Activist hedge fund Elliott
Management has taken a multi-billion pound stake in
GlaxoSmithKline, the Financial Times reported on
Thursday, after a year that has seen the British pharma firm
take a backseat role in the COVID-19 vaccine race.
Shares in GSK erased losses and traded more than 7% higher
on the report, and were last up 5% at 1151 GMT.
A GSK spokesman declined to comment on the report. Elliott
did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Britain's GSK warned in February of a bigger than expected
fall in 2021 earnings as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to
disrupt other healthcare treatments and it invests in new
medicines ahead of a split from its consumer products business
next year.
Rather than developing its own COVID-19 shot, GSK has so far
focused on supplying its vaccine booster to other drugmakers.
But a project with Sanofi has been delayed, and
China's Clover has ended its deal with the British drugmaker.
GSK, the world's biggest vaccines maker by sales, in
February announced a deal with Germany's CureVac to
work on a next generation of shots to combat new COVID-19
variants.
GSK's shares had been down nearly 4% in 2021 before the
rally on Thursday.
(Reporting by Alistair Smout
Additional reporting by Svea Herbst-Bayliss in Boston
Editing by Keith Weir)