Glaxo Forges Into Biologics

GlaxoSmithKline will make its move into protein-based drugs through the planned acquisition of the privately held biotechnology firm Domantis. The $454 million purchase provides GSK with access to what it calls the next generation of antibody technology, human domain antibodies.

Domain antibodies are the smallest functional unit of antibodies. At one-tenth the size of conventional human antibodies, they are said to enjoy both the stability and potency of small molecules and the specificity of antibodies. They can be expressed in both microbial and mammalian cells, a flexibility that Domantis says will enable more cost-effective manufacturing. The company also believes their size could enable oral formulations, an elusive goal for conventional antibodies.

Though the majority of the immunology, respiratory, and oncology drugs in the Domantis pipeline are in the very earliest stages of development—its most advanced product is in preclinical studies—GSK believes the domain antibody technology will significantly expand the potential applications of antibodies.

Domantis will be folded into GSK's Biopharmaceuticals Centre of Excellence for Drug Discovery, with headquarters in Stevenage, England, although it will retain its laboratories in Cambridge, England.

Among the pharmaceutical majors, GSK is considered to be the least-involved in the biotech industry; until now, its biopharmaceutical activities have been limited to vaccines. With a deal "similar to the deals AstraZeneca and Merck have done recently, GSK is seeking to strengthen its long-term biologics portfolio," says Simon King, an analyst at the health care consulting firm Datamonitor.

AstraZeneca bought the portion of Cambridge Antibody Technology that it did not already own, and Merck captured Abmaxis and GlycoFi. Most recently, Pfizer added vaccines technology through the acquisition of PowderMed.