GSK buys – GlaxoSmithKline has agreed to acquire U.S. biotech Nuvalent for $10.6 billion in an all-cash deal, valuing the company at about $124 per share and marking a major bet for GSK’s oncology pipeline. The move comes as GSK braces for a revenue hit from the loss of
On Tuesday, the numbers landed like a jolt in the biotech market: Nuvalent shares jumped 39% in U.S. premarket trading after GlaxoSmithKline struck an agreement to buy the company for $10.6 billion. In London, the reaction was cooler—GSK shares fell 2.6%—but the strategic message from GSK was unmistakable.
The deal is all-cash and values Nuvalent at about $124 per share, according to a GSK filing on Tuesday. That figure represents a 40% premium to Nuvalent’s last closing price. The transaction would be GSK’s largest acquisition in more than a decade.
The pace of the story arrived early in the day. The Financial Times reported the transaction earlier on Tuesday, and Nuvalent did not respond to a request for comment.
Nuvalent is a specialist oncology, late-stage development biotech company focused on subsets of lung cancer with specific genetic mutations. If the acquisition goes through. GSK says it will gain access to Nuvalent’s two late-stage lung cancer treatments. which the company described as having blockbuster potential. The package also includes an early-stage medicine and Nuvalent’s preclinical portfolio of multiple programs.
GSK CEO Luke Miels framed the move in terms of growth and momentum. “The acquisition provides GSK with immediate new sales growth opportunities,” he said in a statement. He added that “The two lead products are potential best-in-class assets that could launch this year if approved by the FDA and offer significant new treatment options to patients with two forms of non-small cell lung cancer.”.
The two lead products are zidesamtinib and neladalkib. Both are tied to ongoing FDA review. Neladalkib—targeting certain types of lung cancer—is currently undergoing FDA review with a deadline of Nov. 27. Zidesamtinib. for patients with ROS1-positive non-small cell lung cancer. has a new drug application that is also under FDA review.
Barclays analysts said the deal “makes sense conceptually” because it adds clinically de-risked late-stage assets to GSK’s existing oncology business. But they questioned whether the two late-stage assets will deliver mega blockbuster returns. saying that the upside was “capped.” They also pointed to the larger financial logic: “More importantly. the deal accretion could help offset HIV [loss of exclusivity] headwind starting in mid-28.”.
That HIV timeline is central to why GSK is moving now. GSK expects a drop in revenue when its best-selling HIV medicine loses exclusivity from 2028. and it says the acquisition is expected to contribute to revenue growth from 2027. There is also no change to GSK’s 2026 full-year guidance of core operating profit and core earnings-per-share growth.
This is the second largest acquisition in GSK’s history. It trails a 2014 asset swap with Novartis. in which GSK assumed control of the Swiss drugmaker’s vaccines division in a transaction valued at $20 billion. The size and scope marks a departure from the company’s focus on smaller transactions in recent years.
Miels. who took over from longtime boss Emma Walmsley at the start of the year. has been tasked with overhauling a company that has struggled to ease investor concerns about its drug pipeline. Since Miels’ appointment was announced in September, GSK’s share price has climbed roughly 29%. In February. he told investors he would focus on transactions in the £2 billion ($2.67 billion) to £4 billion range that were “hiding in plain sight.”.
Investors are also looking at whether the new oncology assets can justify the price. Analysts at CGS International estimated that if approved, neladalkib and zidesamtinib could generate combined annual revenues of $823 million in the 2029 financial year, in a January note to investors.
The acquisition lands amid a biotech dealmaking frenzy. driven by looming patent cliffs. newly buoyant public markets. and pharma giants’ race to bolster pipelines. Biotech deals globally reached $106 billion across 201 transactions so far in 2026. according to PitchBook data. putting the sector on track for its strongest year since the pre-pandemic peak.
GSK Nuvalent $10.6 billion deal oncology pipeline lung cancer treatments zidesamtinib neladalkib FDA review Luke Miels HIV exclusivity biotech acquisition