GSK announced on June 9, 2026 that it will acquire Cambridge, Massachusetts-based cancer drugmaker Nuvalent for $10.6 billion at $124 per share, a 26% premium to Nuvalent's 30-day average share price. Nuvalent has two drugs under FDA review targeting genetic mutations in lung cancer, with approval decisions expected later in 2026. The deal is the largest transaction pursued by GSK CEO Luke Miels since he took over from Emma Walmsley at the start of 2026.
GSK-Nuvalent acquisition
- ▪GSK announced on June 9, 2026 that GSK will acquire Nuvalent for $10.6 billion
- ▪GSK is paying $124 per share for Nuvalent, a 26% premium to Nuvalent's average share price over the last 30 days
- ▪The GSK-Nuvalent acquisition is the largest transaction pursued by GSK CEO Luke Miels since Luke Miels took over from Emma Walmsley at the start of 2026
- ▪Approval decisions on both Nuvalent drugs are expected later in 2026
Gilead-Merck HIV treatment
- ▪Gilead and Merck announced on June 8, 2026 that an experimental HIV pill successfully suppressed the virus when given once per week in two large trials
- ▪The Gilead-Merck HIV combination tablet came out of a collaboration the two companies struck in 2021
Cancer drug trial outcomes
- ▪An improvement of overall survival from the Trodelvy plus Keytruda combination was deemed unlikely in the EVOKE-03 study
- ▪Merck is developing, along with the Chinese biotech Kelun, a TROP-2-targeted antibody called sac-TMT
- ▪Trodelvy is an antibody that homes in on cancer cells that express a protein called TROP-2 on their surface
- ▪The Trodelvy plus Keytruda combination regimen failed to show a statistically significant improvement in progression-free survival in the EVOKE-03 study
- ▪Sac-TMT cut the risk of tumor progression by 65% in patients with lung cancer, according to Phase 3 study results reported at the recent ASCO annual meeting
- ▪Revolution Medicines showed that Revolution Medicines' KRAS-targeted drug could nearly double survival in metastatic pancreatic cancer
AstraZeneca GLP-1 pill
- ▪In a separate Phase 2 trial in people with diabetes, elecoglipron helped patients lower their blood sugar and lose weight by a greater magnitude than a comparator group taking oral Ozempic
- ▪AstraZeneca released data on June 8, 2026 on AstraZeneca's investigational GLP-1 pill called elecoglipron
- ▪In one Phase 2 trial, elecoglipron led patients with obesity to lose 11.2% of their weight after 36 weeks
City Therapeutics funding
- ▪City Therapeutics raised $99.5 million in Series B funding
- ▪City Therapeutics' Series B funding came from Viking Global Investors, Sofinnova Investments, ARCH Venture Partners, Fidelity, and others
- ▪City Therapeutics' Series B funding gives City Therapeutics enough cash to run through 2027
- ▪City Therapeutics was founded by former Alnylam Pharmaceuticals CEO John Maraganore
J&J Firefly Bio acquisition
- ▪Johnson & Johnson announced on June 8, 2026 that Johnson & Johnson will spend $1 billion to acquire Firefly Bio
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