GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) will join with Flagship Pioneering to develop up to 10 new drugs and vaccines starting with respiratory and immunology indications, the partners said today, through a collaboration that could generate more than $7 billion for the venture/accelerator giant and some of its portfolio companies.
The partnership is intended to marry GSK’s therapeutic area expertise and development capability with Flagship’s ecosystem of 40 companies, with the goal of creating and advancing transformational treatments and vaccines.
During the partnership’s initial phase, GSK and Flagship said, they will identify, then accelerate development of promising scientific concepts for further research, with an initial focus on the respiratory and immunology areas.
Respiratory/immunology is one of GSK’s four therapeutic areas of interest, along with infectious diseases, HIV, and oncology. Among conditions for which GSK has focused its respiratory/immunology pipeline are severe asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), lupus and other inflammatory diseases, as well as eosinophilic granulomatosis (EGPA), hypereosinophilic syndrome (HES). and other connective tissue disorders.
In February, GSK moved to bolster its asthma portfolio by completing an up-to-$1.4 billion acquisition of Aiolos Bio, just four months after Aiolos announced its launch with $245 million in Series A financing. The deal brought GSK AIO-001, a Phase II-ready, long-acting antithymic stromal lymphopoietin (TSLP) monoclonal antibody designed to treat adults with asthma.
GSK said AIO-001 held potential to redefine standard-of-care by requiring administration every six months, and would expand the pharma giant’s respiratory biologics portfolio to potentially reach the 40% of severe asthma patients with low T2 inflammation.
GSK and Flagship have agreed to jointly fund up to $150 million upfront toward an exploration phase intended to identify the most promising concepts for further R&D through Flagship’s platform-focused companies. The partners aim to identify a portfolio of up to 10 novel drugs and vaccines, each of which will be subject to an exclusive option by GSK for further clinical development.
Flagship and its bioplatform companies will be eligible to receive from GSK up to $720 million in payments tied to achieving upfront, development, and commercial milestones, as well as preclinical funding and tiered royalties, for each acquired program.
“Best-in-class innovation”
“Together with Flagship, we will use science and technology to deliver best-in-class innovation at pace,” Tony Wood, PhD, GSK’s CSO, said in a statement. “We look forward to partnering with the talented team at Flagship, and their ecosystem of bioplatform companies, to further accelerate our pipeline and discover practice-changing medicines and vaccines for patients.”
GSK shares traded on the London Stock Exchange inched up 0.2% this morning to 1,557p as of 10 a.m. ET, from Friday’s close of 1,553p.
During the first quarter, respiratory/immunology drugs generated £635 million ($815 million), accounting for one-quarter of GSK’s £2.522 billion ($3.238 billion) in specialty medicines revenues. Second quarter results are set to be released Wednesday.
GSK racked up another £182 million ($233.7 million) from its vaccine Arexvy®, approved by the FDA last year and indicated for prevention of lower respiratory tract disease (LRTD) caused by respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) in adults aged 60 and older, and adults ages 50–59 who are at increased risk for LRTD caused by RSV.
GSK is the latest biopharma giant to team up with Flagship in developing new therapies and vaccines. Pfizer inked an up-to-$7.1 billion collaboration with Flagship last year ($50 million each upfront) toward a pipeline of 10 programs, the first of which was identified last month as an obesity drug being developed by Flagship’s ProFound Therapeutics.
And in 2022, Novo Nordisk agreed to provide funding for research programs of specified Flagship companies, three of which are collaborating with the diabetes/obesity drug giant, most recently in May with Metaphore Biotechnologies.
The latest collaboration with GSK will enable Flagship to tap into the expertise of its in-house drug development unit Pioneering Medicines.
“Flagship and GSK have a shared focus on delivering breakthrough medicines for patients,” stated Paul Biondi, general partner, Flagship Pioneering and president, Pioneering Medicines. “This collaboration is the latest example of Flagship’s Innovation Supply Chain Partnership model, which is designed to generate transformational medicines together with our pharma partners by leveraging our ecosystem of first-in-category bioplatforms to create a sustainable source of treatments for patients with the greatest unmet needs.”
Portfolio focus
At least three of Flagship’s 40 portfolio companies are focused on respiratory and immunology treatments. They include:
- Repertoire Immune Medicines, whose DECODETMplatform enables it to design therapies to program the immune system;
- Seres Therapeutics, a developer of drugs based on modulating the function of the human microbiome;
- Sonata Therapeutics, whose new class of Network Medicines™ reprogram diseased cells to release a defined array of signals that precisely coordinate multicellular networks to drive disease resolution.
Based in Cambridge, MA, Flagship has built a primary portfolio of companies focused on life sciences or “human health” and sustainability, as well as on AI. The firm’s best-known companies that have grown from startups include Moderna, the messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccine giant that has brought several COVID-19 vaccines to approval, and Generate:Biomedicines, a developer of therapeutics based on de novo protein generation. Flagship co-founded and co-funded Generate:Biomedicines’ $273 million Series C financing completed last year, bringing its total equity financing since 2020 to nearly $700 million.
Just last week, Flagship announced its latest startup to emerge from stealth mode. Abiologics, a developer of programmable medicines that combine generative artificial intelligence (AI) and high throughput chemical protein synthesis, was publicly launched with Flagship Pioneering committing an initial $50 million in financing that is intended to advance the company’s platform and develop a pipeline of Synteins™, protein-like treatments created from artificial amino acids such as D-amino acids, mirror images of the L-amino acids from which conventional biologics are created.
Earlier this month, Flagship Pioneering announced plans to deploy a combined $3.6 billion in new capital to support the creation and development of about 25 new startups—consisting of $2.6 billion raised into its eighth fund, Fund VIII, and side funds totaling $1 billion that include sector-specific strategic partnerships.