GSK, the British pharma group, has struck a $1.4bn deal to acquire Anglo-American biotech Aiolos Bio, which makes respiratory medicines.
The acquisition will give GSK access to a treatment entering mid-stage trials that it hopes will broaden its range of asthma products.
Tony Wood, chief scientific officer at GSK, said that Aiolos’ AIO-001 treatment could “expand the reach of our current respiratory biologics portfolio, including to the 40 per cent of severe asthma patients . . . where treatment options are still needed”.
The deal comes as pharmaceutical companies gather in San Francisco for an annual industry conference, with GSK rivals Johnson & Johnson, Novartis and Merck announcing acquisitions on Monday.
