GSK Set to Purchase Aiolos Bio, Expand Respiratory Pipeline

GSK has revealed a contract to acquire Aiolos Bio and its phase 2 asthma medicine for an initial payment of $1 billion and up to $400 million in regulatory targets. This announcement comes 77 days after Aiolos Bio was made available to the general public.

Late in October, Aiolos made its debut with a Series A funding round of $245 million. Atlas Venture, Forbion, Bain Capital Life Sciences and Sofinnova Investments were the investors that together led the transaction. In order to finance its research and development of a powerful anti-TSLP monoclonal antibody known as AIO-001, which it had acquired from Jiangsu Hengrui Pharmaceuticals two months previously, the biotechnology company successfully recruited the necessary funds.

GSK was not the first company to take advantage of the TSLP possibility. In the closing stages of 2021, Amgen and AstraZeneca were successful in obtaining FDA clearance for their anti-TSLP antibody, called Tezspire. The midphase TSLP candidate known as CSJ117 was adorned with a ‘for sale’ sign by Novartis some months after the FDA gave its approval for Tezspire. 

GSK has evaluated the competition and placed a wager on AIO-001 that may reach up to $1.4 billion. Tony Wood, the chief scientific officer at GSK, referred to AIO-001 as possibly the best-in-class treatment in a statement. He said that this medicine has the potential to broaden the firm’s biologics portfolio to include 40% of acute asthma patients who have low T2 inflammation. 

There is a category of asthmatics known as T2 low asthma that other medications, such as GSK’s Nucala and phase 3 hopeful depemokimab, are not intended to treat. Post-hoc studies of phase 2/3 studies of Tezspire connected the antibody to decreases in exacerbations in this population. The FDA made Tezspire the first asthma medicine to be authorized for serious cases of asthma without phenotypic limits, like eosinophilic or biomarker limitations. This was due to the fact that Tezspire was effective in treating a wide range of asthma symptoms.

In part, the dosage schedule of AIO-001 is the reason why some believe it has the potential to be an improvement to Tezspire. Tezspire is administered using the subcutaneous route on a monthly basis. 

According to GSK, the “enhanced potency and half-life extension technology” of AIO-001 has the potential to sustain dosage every six months. Research conducted by Big Pharma on the HIV medications Cabenuva and Apretude has demonstrated that longer-lasting medications have the potential to capture a greater share of the market.

GSK is considering expanding research into other indications, such as persistent rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps, and intends to conduct a phase 2 study in people with asthma. GSK will soon gain rights to AIO-001 beyond Greater China. Chronic rhinosinusitis and eosinophilic esophagitis are the subjects of Tezspire’s phase 3 studies, being conducted by Amgen and AstraZeneca.

The agreement marks another triumphant exit for Aiolos CEO Khurem Farooq, who, along with Tony Adamis, M.D., co-founded the biotech. Prior to this, Farooq had steered Gyroscope Therapeutics to a successful $800 million acquisition by Novartis.

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