Hot on the heels of its asset swap with Swiss rival Novartis (CH:NOVN), drugs giant GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) has agreed to develop new cancer drugs with Oxford-based biotech company Adaptimmune in a deal worth $350m (£209m).
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GSK sold its existing oncology business to Novartis in April for $16bn, admitting it didn’t have "enough scale" to compete with existing treatments on the market for skin cancer, breast cancer and leukaemia.
Now, this new deal will see GSK and Adaptimmune partner up to develop new cancer treatments over a period of seven years, with further payments due from GSK should it exercise all options under the current terms. Adaptimmune is set to receive royalties on any products that reach the market.
