GSK shares slip after buying US cancer treatment firm Nuvalent for $10.6bn
Pharma giant GSK has sealed a $10bn deal to snap up Boston-based biopharmaceutical company Nuvalent.
The FTSE 100 titan said it will pay $124 per share in cash in the agreement, marking a 40 per cent premium over what Nuvalent’s stock was trading at just before this announcement.
The deal is expected to officially close in the third quarter of 2026. GSK’s shares were down nearly three per cent in early trading to 1,861.00p as investors digested the news.
“The initial share price response indicates some trepidation among investors which is understandable given the size of the takeover,” Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said.
“GSK is paying a hefty premium to get the deal over the line and the two big lung cancer products flagged by Miels in heralding the takeover still await regulatory approval. Any acquisition of this size will always face challenges around integration.”
Nuvalent has built high-tech, precisely targeted therapies that are designed to minimise side effects and overcome the drug-resistance issues common in older cancer treatments. GSK said the deal covers three products in lung cancer treatment in “one single transaction”.
The firm said it expects the revenue from these new cancer drugs starting in 2027 to help cushion the blow after losing exclusivity on its money-making HIV drug.
It added the deal would help GSK clear its target of over £40bn in annual sales by 2031.
Luke Miels, chief executive of GSK, said: “The acquisition provides GSK with immediate new sales growth opportunities, improving profit contributions from 2027, and a platform in lung cancer for rapid expansion.”
GSK warned investors of slowing profit growth
The London-based business reported turnover growth of four per cent to £32.7bn in 2025, with six per cent coming in the final quarter. The uplift was supported by higher demand for its speciality medicines, where sales grew 17 per cent to £13.5bn.
Operating profit was up seven per cent for the year, one again driven by a bumper final quarter which notched a stronger-than-expected 14 per cent growth.
But it did warn in February that this growth was set to moderate over 2026, as it pencilled operatring profit to come in between seven to nine perc cent.
GSK laid out plans earlier this year to axe up to 350 research and development jobs across the US and UK as part of an overhaul of the division.
Around 50 UK jobs faced the chop in the group’s main UK R&D hub in Stevenage, Hertfordshire, although the final number of roles targeted is yet to be confirmed.
Laast year, GSK laid out plans to spend $30bn on research and manufacturing facilities in the US, marking a major blow to the UK with the around £4.4bn in annual spend for the US outsizing that of a roughly £1.5bn R&D budget in the UK.