GSK Seeks to Expand its Respiratory Biologics Portfolio with Aiolos Acquisition

Global biopharma company, GSK, has announced its acquisition of Aiolos Bio, which is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company that is focused on addressing unmet treatment needs in the respiratory and inflammatory conditions space.

The acquisition, which was announced in a Feb. 15, 2024 press release, includes Aiolos’ long-acting anti-thymic stromal lymphopoietin (TSLP) novel monoclonal antibody, AIO-001, which is already set to start Phase II clinical development for the treatment of adults with asthma. AIO-001 works by binding to the human TSLP ligand and inhibiting its ability to signal, which will help to improve lung function and control asthma in patients.

With the addition of this novel therapy, expanding its respiratory biologics portfolio, GSK would have the potential to be able to reach 40% of severe asthma patients that have a type of overactive immune response associated with the respiratory condition—low T2 inflammation.

“Given the limited treatment options for asthma patients with low T2 inflammation, we look forward to using our deep respiratory expertise to potentially offer a long-acting biologic to a broader portion of the 315 million patients living with asthma,” said Tony Wood, chief scientific officer, GSK, in the press release.

Per the terms of the agreement, GSK will make a $1 billion payment upfront for the acquisition and will also make success-based regulatory milestone payments of the value of up to $400 million. Furthermore, GSK will be responsible for payments, based on reaching certain success milestones, to Jiangsu Hengrui Pharmaceuticals Co., Ltd., which is the company that provided Aiolos with an exclusive licence to AIO-001 outside of the Greater China area.

This acquisition announcement comes just over one month after the companies entered into the agreement for the buyout, which had been revealed in a Jan. 6, 2024 press release.

Source: GSK