GSK to spend $2bn on Phase III liver disease drug acquisition

Robert Barrie

Wed, May 14, 2025, 4:45 AM 3 min read

Just a time aft dropping a $625m crab asset, GSK has inked a woody worthy a imaginable $2bn to get Boston Pharmaceuticals’ efimosfermin, a cause acceptable to deed Phase III trials for the attraction of liver disease.

The UK large pharma institution volition wage $1.2bn upfront for Boston’s subsidiary BP Asset IX, which volition springiness the institution entree to efimosfermin. GSK has besides agreed to wage further milestone payments totalling $800m, on with tiered royalties to Novartis, which primitively owned the therapy.

Shares successful London-listed GSK opened comparatively unchanged pursuing the news, though climbed into the mid-morning to a stock terms precocious of £1,382.00 (correct astatine 11am GMT+1). The institution has a marketplace headdress of £56.98bn.

Efimosfermin is being developed to dainty and forestall the progression of steatotic liver illness (SLD), a build-up of abdominous successful liver cells. SLD is simply a wide illness word utilized to encompass assorted causes of abdominous accumulation successful the liver. If untreated, abdominous build-up successful cells tin advancement to much terrible stages that see fibrosis and cirrhosis.

GSK’s caller plus is taken erstwhile monthly via a subcutaneous injection. Efimosfermin is simply a long-acting variant of fibroblast maturation origin 21 (FGF21) that is designed to modulate cardinal metabolic pathways to alteration some liver abdominous and inflammation, and reverse liver fibrosis.

The therapy has already performed good successful a Phase II proceedings (NCT06920043) successful patients with moderate-to-advanced (F2 oregon F3) metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH), a signifier of SLD. Data, posted by Boston successful November 2024, demonstrated that efimosfermin has ‘significant therapeutic potential’ successful liver disease. Of the 31 patients receiving the injection, 14 had a one-stage oregon greater betterment successful fibrosis without MASH progression, compared to conscionable 7 retired of 34 successful the placebo group.

Whilst determination are different FGF21 drugs successful improvement – specified arsenic Akero Therapeutics efruxifermin and 89bio’s pegozafermin – Boston designed efimosfermin with an extended half-life to let monthly dosing portion Akero and 89bio’s assets necessitate play dosing, GSK’s cause could beryllium acceptable for an aboriginal marketplace advantage. GSK has besides earmarked efimosfermin’s imaginable to harvester with its in-house siRNA therapeutic GSK’990 to code much precocious stages of SLD.

According to GlobalData estimates, the MASH marketplace is anticipated to scope income of $25.7bn successful 2032 crossed the 7 large markets (7MM: US, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the UK, and Japan). The marketplace was revived successful March 2024 erstwhile Madrigal Pharmaceuticals’ Rezdiffra (resmetirom) won the archetypal US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) support for a MASH treatment. GlobalData noted an summation successful drug concern woody values successful the MASH arena successful 2024. Eli Lilly continued this inclination into this twelvemonth erstwhile it agreed to wage $630m for a Phase I RNA-based campaigner from South Korea-based biotech OliX Pharmaceuticals successful February 2025.