GSK Pays $5.1B For Tesaro, Setting Up “PARP” Battle With Rival AstraZeneca
GlaxoSmithKline will pay $5.1B for Tesaro, becoming the latest firm to bet on a new type of cancer drug that has shown promise treating multiple tumor types but has yet to become a blockbuster seller. Waltham, MA-based Tesaro owns a cancer drug called niraparib (Zejula), and its shares surged about 60%, to $74.15 apiece, after the news broke Monday morning.
Tesaro has struggled to turn niraparib into a commercial success, but GSK’s bet on Tesaro shows that pharma is still willing to gamble on the future of drugs like niraparib, known as PARP inhibitors. It also sets up a commercial battle between GSK and rival AstraZeneca, whose competing drug olaparib (Lynparza) is currently the market leader.
