Helps accelerate GSK’s pipeline and commercial capability in oncology.
GlaxoSmithKline plc (GSK) has announced it will acquire Tesaro, an oncology-focused company based in Waltham, Massachusetts, for US$5.1 billion.
The proposed transaction will significantly strengthen GSK’s pharmaceutical business, accelerating the build of GSK’s pipeline and commercial capability in oncology.
The deal gives GSK a major marketed product, Zejula (niraparib), an oral poly ADP ribose polymerase (PARP) inhibitor currently approved for use in ovarian cancer. Zejula is currently approved in the U.S. and Europe as a treatment for adult patients with recurrent ovarian cancer who are in response to platinum-based chemotherapy, regardless of BRCA mutation or biomarker status.
PARP inhibitors are transforming the treatment of ovarian cancer, notably demonstrating marked clinical benefit in patients with and without germline mutations in a BRCA gene (gBRCA).
GSK also believes PARP inhibitors offer significant opportunities for use in the treatment of multiple cancer types. In addition to ovarian cancer, Zejula is currently being investigated for use as a possible treatment in lung, breast and prostate cancer, both as a monotherapy and in combination with other medicines, including with Tesaro’s own anti-PD-1 antibody (dostarlimab, formerly known as TSR-042).
In addition to Zejula, Tesaro has several oncology assets in its pipeline including antibodies directed against PD-1, TIM-3 and LAG-3 targets. [APBN]