Affinivax

History

2022: GSK bought Affinivax for $3.3 billion

On May 31, 2022, GSK announced that it was buying Boston-based biotech company Affinivax in a deal worth up to $3.3 billion. The deal comes as GSK seeks to strengthen its vaccine pipeline ahead of a planned split in its consumer healthcare business, Reuters said.

The British drugmaker will make an advance payment of $2.1 billion and up to $1.2 billion as intermediate stages of financing, GSK said in a statement. The deal is expected to close in the third quarter of 2022.

GSK bought Affinivax biopharmaceutical company for $3.3 billion

Affinivax is developing a pneumococcal vaccine, the addition of which to the GSK line could include the company in the competition between Pfizer and Merck for market dominance. Pneumococcal vaccines provide protection against a range of diseases caused by a bacterium known as Streptococcus pneumoniae, including pneumonia, meningitis and other diseases.

In 2021, Merck sold pneumococcal vaccines for $893 million, and Pfizer - for $5.3 billion. In 2021, both companies received approval for new versions of their pneumococcal vaccines: Pfizer for a version that protects against 20 different serotypes of Streptococcus pneumoniae bacteria, and Merck for a version that protects against 15 different serotypes.

The pneumococcal vaccine being developed by Affinivax, known as AFX3772, will protect against 24 serotypes and contains "two conserved pneumococcal proteins," according to Affinivax. GSK said Phase 3 trials of this vaccine should begin "in the near term." GSK said the technology developed by Affinivax, known as the Multiple Antigen Presenting System, allows the development of vaccines that protect against more serotypes than traditional technologies.

The proposed acquisition will further strengthen our vaccine research pipeline, provide access to new, potentially revolutionary technology, and expand GSK's existing scientific presence, GSK's chief scientific officer, Dr. Hal Barron, said in a statement.

In July 2022, GSK plans to spin off its consumer health products division. The new company, to be called Haleon, will be listed on the London Stock Exchange. The new organization will be a pure biopharmaceutical company.^[1]

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