GSK will partner with bioplatform innovation company, Flagship Pioneering, to discover and develop a portfolio of "future transformational" medicines and vaccines, starting in respiratory and immunology.
Per the deal, GSK and Flagship will each fund up to $150 million upfront to support an exploration phase to identify the most promising assets for further R&D with Flagship’s bioplatform companies. From this, the collab aims to identify a portfolio of up to 10 novel medicines and vaccines which will each be subject to an exclusive option by GSK for further clinical development.
For each acquired program, Flagship and its bioplatform companies will be eligible to receive up to $720 million in upfront, development and commercial milestones from GSK, as well as preclinical funding and tiered royalties.
The strategic partnership is similar to one struck between Flagship and Pfizer last year. Per the deal, led by Flagship’s in-house drug discovery and development unit Pioneering Medicines, Flagship and Pfizer each invested $50 million upfront to explore opportunities to develop 10 single-asset programs by leveraging Flagship’s ecosystem. The partners recently revealed their first exploration agreement in June, targeting obesity. A month prior to that, Novo Nordisk also announced that it would partner with Flagship company Metaphore Biotechnologies to develop obesity management therapeutics.
