GSK adds vaccines with GlycoVaxyn takeout

GlaxoSmithKline plc (LSE:GSK;NYSE:GSK) paid $190 million (L124.7 million) to acquire the remaining shares of vaccine developer GlycoVaxyn AG (Schlieren, Switzerland) it did not already own, valuing the biotech at $212 million (L139.1 million). The deal gives GSK a portfolio of vaccine candidates, including a Phase I candidate against E. coli and a candidate against shigellosis slated to start Phase I trials in the U.S. this quarter.

GSK acquired a minority stake in GlycoVaxyn in a 2012 deal that gave the pharma access to GlycoVaxyn's bio-conjugation technology to develop new bacterial vaccines against an undisclosed set of pathogen targets (see BioCentury Extra, Dec. 19, 2012). ...