RE: Could Avacta Be On There Shopping List ??6 Feb 2026 11:13
GSK's new CEO looking for $2B to $4B deals 'hiding in plain sight'
This is the title of a Fierce Pharma document found on this link:
https://www.fiercebiotech.com/biotech/gsks-new-ceo-looking-2-4b-deals-hiding-plain-sight
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Luke Miels had only been at the helm of GSK for 20 days before he signed off on his first multibillion-dollar buyout, and the CEO is clear on what else will attract his interest.
“The basic framework that we like for [business development] is in that 2-to-4 billion [dollar] range,” Miels told journalists on a fourth-quarter earnings call this morning.
“Typically, we like a program where the science is reasonably established,” he added.
Miels—who served as GSK’s chief commercial officer before taking over from CEO Emma Walmsley in the new year—pointed to a pattern in dealmaking set in 2022 by the $1.9 billion acquisition of Sierra Oncology for its near-approval cancer drug.
GSK is especially interested in drugs where “we've got a degree of validation on the science, but there are liabilities with the existing products,” he said.
To demonstrate these criteria, Miels cited the $2.2 billion buyout of Rapt Therapeutics just days into his tenure as CEO. Rapt’s IgE antibody ozureprubart protects against food allergy reactions by targeting the same epitope as Novartis and Roche’s Xolair.
Miels admitted that Xolair has “absolutely exploded in the U.S. for usage with severe allergies, particularly in kids.”
“But the problem is there's a very complicated dosing regimen, and these kids have to inject themselves every two weeks,” he explained.
“[Ozureprubart] works exactly the same way as Xolair, except that you give it on a much lower frequency,” Miels said.
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“So that's essentially the methodology we're going to follow with [business development]—looking for assets [that are] well priced, not necessarily in the mainstream, hiding in plain sight,” the CEO added. “And we'll do that with a degree of frequency, which, again, will help us build out the late-stage portfolio.”
1 The basic framework that we like for [business development] is in that 2-to-4 billion [dollar] range,” ❌
2 “Typically, we like a program where the science is reasonably established” ✔️
3 GSK is interested in drugs where “we've got a degree of validation on the science, but there are liabilities with the existing products” ✔️
4 ...looking for assets [that are] well priced, not necessarily in the mainstream, hiding in plain sight” ❌ see 1
- I'd take issue that multibillion assets don't usually exist in the mainstream, hiding in plain sight. I'd say all now know about Avacta and its products.
Those specialising in cancer therapeutics HAVE to be interested or start making BIG advances soon in ADC cancer targeting.
I think overall, GSK is looking for an opportunity that costs less than Avacta will sell for. - From the horses mouth.
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