By Bhanvi Satija and Yadarisa Shabong
LONDON, June 9 (Reuters) - GSK has agreed to buy U.S.-listed cancer drug developer Nuvalent for $10.6 billion in its largest deal in more than a decade, marking a major strategic shift under new CEO Luke Miels as the British company steps up its focus on oncology.
The all-cash deal values Nuvalent at approximately $124 per share, a 40% premium to its last closing price. Shares in Nuvalent, which develops lung cancer drugs, were up about 38% at $122.10 in U.S. premarket
trade. GSK shares slipped over 3% in early trading in London.
The deal marks a departure from GSK's usual strategy of smaller "bolt-on" deals as Miels, who took over from Emma Walmsley at the start of the year, looks to convince investors the drugmaker can hit a bold target of £40 billion in annual revenue by 2031.
"It's larger than the bracket because it was unusual," Miels told reporters on a call, although he said GSK's sales targets were not dependent on the acquisition. "It's a multi-product deal... So it's essentially three products in one."
UBS analysts said that investors could be surprised by the size of the deal, given GSK's normal preference for acquisitions in the $2 billion to $4 billion range.
BUILDING SCALE IN CANCER TREATMENTS
Miels said the acquisition offered "significant new treatment options" for lung cancer patients and creates a platform to expand its experimental antibody-drug conjugate Ris-Rez, now in late-stage testing.
He has pledged to speed development of new medicines and target assets to strengthen GSK's late-stage pipeline and manage the 2028 patent expiry of its key HIV medicine dolutegravir. GSK has struck two smaller deals this year since Miels took over.
In 2025, GSK saw notable growth across its oncology portfolio, with sales income across the disease area swelling by 43% to just under £2 billion compared to 2024. Oncology accounts for about 6% of GSK's £32.7 billion in total sales.
Barclays analysts said the Nuvalent deal made strategic sense because it adds late-stage cancer assets in an area where GSK already operates, and could help offset the expected HIV patent cliff if approvals come on time.
GSK is also seeking to close the gap with London-listed rival AstraZeneca in cancer drugs. Oncology accounted for 44% of the Anglo-Swedish group's total sales last year.
Net of cash acquired, GSK's aggregate investment is estimated to be $9.4 billion, the British company said, adding that the deal is expected to add to sales and operating profit in 2027 and core earnings per share in 2029.
MULTI-BLOCKBUSTER POTENTIAL
Miels said GSK had tracked Nuvalent for over a year after it was first identified by its oncology and business development teams, and was internally known as "Nashville".
Nuvalent's data at a major medical conference last week convinced him that GSK should pursue the deal, he said.
The deal adds Nuvalent's two lead lung cancer drugs, zidesamtinib and neladalkib, to GSK's basket of products that are close to being launched. U.S. decisions for the drugs are expected in September and November this year.
If approved, both could launch in 2026 and GSK believes the drugs have multi-blockbuster potential. UBS analysts expect zidesamtinib to bring in nearly $2 billion in peak annual sales.
The deal also adds an early-stage HER2 lung cancer drug and several cancer programmes still in lab-testing stages to GSK's pipeline.
The deal, which is expected to close in the third quarter of 2026, will be funded mainly from new and existing debt facilities plus cash and could have a low single-digit percentage dilution to core earnings per share for 2026 to 2028, GSK said.
(Reporting by DhanushVignesh Babu and Yadarisa Shabong in Bengaluru and Bhanvi Satija in London; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala, Louise Heavens and Susan Fenton)
