GSK plans to buy Canada's Bellus Health for $2 billion to expand on respiratory therapies

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GSK plans to buy Canada-based drug developer Bellus Health Inc in an all-cash deal for $2 billion as the British drugmaker expands its bet on respiratory therapies, according to a report by news agency Reuters.

The move to restore its pipeline comes as GSK investors mull whether there is enough in the medicine cabinet to keep the momentum going into the next decade with expected loss of patent protection of one of its key compounds.

Also Read: GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals net profit rises 9.45% to Rs 165 crore in Q3

The experimental drug- camlipixant, is at the heart of the deal, which is in late-stage development as a treatment for refractory chronic cough (RCC). The condition can cause patients to cough more than 900 times a day for more than a year. Around 10 million patients globally suffer from it and so far, there are no approved therapies, the report added.

GSK's offer of $14.75 per share is more than double Bellus' closing price of $7.26 on the Nasdaq on April 17. The Bellus deal expands GSK's existing respiratory portfolio, including Nucala and Trelegy, which generated more than a combined $3.73 billion last year.

Investors are interested in GSK's future plans, given the pending loss of patent protection in 2027 for dolutegravir, the compound that forms part of four GSK's HIV treatments, which puts more than 5 billion pounds of sales at risk, according to the report.

The company is leaning in part on the prospects of its own vaccine targeted at the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), which causes thousands of hospitalisations and deaths a year, to at least partially offset that loss.

It has also announced a string of deals including a buyout of Affinivax and Sierra Oncology to plug the gap. Still, the company also has culled a handful of programmes from its pipeline in recent months and suffered setbacks in its marketed cancer drug portfolio.