# GlaxoSmithKline plc Completes acquisition of TESARO

- Link: https://www.directorstalkinterviews.com/glaxosmithkline-plc-completes-acquisition-of-tesaro/412765201
- Published: 2019-01-22T14:31:27+00:00
- Author: Charlotte Edwards

**[GlaxoSmithKline](https://www.directorstalkinterviews.com/ftse-company/glaxosmithkline-plc/gsk.l)
plc** ([LON:GSK](https://www.directorstalkinterviews.com/ftse-company/glaxosmithkline-plc/gsk.l),
NYSE: GSK) today announced that it has successfully completed the acquisition of
TESARO, Inc. an oncology-focused company based in Waltham, Massachusetts, for an
aggregate cash consideration of approximately $5.1 billion (£4.0 billion). The transaction,
which was announced on 3 December 2018, significantly strengthens GSK’s pharmaceutical
business, accelerating the build of GSK’s pipeline and commercial capability in 
oncology.

TESARO is a commercial-stage biopharmaceutical company, with a major marketed product,
Zejula (niraparib), an oral poly ADP ribose polymerase (PARP) inhibitor currently
approved for use in ovarian cancer. PARP inhibitors are transforming the treatment
of ovarian cancer, notably demonstrating marked clinical benefit in patients with
and without germline mutations in a BRCA gene (gBRCA). Zejula is currently approved
in the US and Europe as a treatment for adult patients with recurrent ovarian cancer
who are in response to platinum-based chemotherapy, regardless of BRCA mutation 
or biomarker status.

Clinical trials to assess the use of Zejula in “all-comers” patient populations,
as a monotherapy and in combinations, for the significantly larger opportunity of
first line maintenance treatment of ovarian cancer are also underway. These ongoing
trials are evaluating the potential benefit of Zejula in patients who carry gBRCA
mutations as well as the larger population of patients without gBRCA mutations whose
tumours are HRD-positive and HRD-negative. Results from the first of these studies,
PRIMA, are expected to be available in the second half of 2019.

GSK also believes PARP inhibitors offer significant opportunities for use in the
treatment of multiple cancer types. In addition to ovarian cancer, Zejula is currently
being investigated for use as a possible treatment in lung, breast and prostate 
cancer, both as a monotherapy and in combination with other medicines, including
with TESARO’s own anti-PD-1 antibody (dostarlimab, formerly known as TSR-042).

In addition to Zejula and dostarlimab, TESARO has several oncology assets in its
pipeline including antibodies directed against TIM-3 and LAG-3 targets.

> **Dr Hal Barron, Chief Scientific Officer and President, R&D, GSK, said:** “Both
> GSK and TESARO are driven by a focus on patients and a deep desire to develop 
> truly transformational medicines that can improve and extend their lives. The 
> acquisition of TESARO, which we have completed today, significantly strengthens
> our oncology pipeline and brings new scientific capabilities and expertise that
> will increase the pace and scale at which we can help patients living with cancer.”
> **Dr Mary Lynne Hedley, President and Chief Operating Officer, TESARO, said:**“
> This new partnership between TESARO and GSK marks an important milestone in advancing
> our mission of developing transformative therapies for individuals living with
> cancer. Together with GSK, we can accelerate and further advance TESARO’s development
> and commercialization initiatives and, ultimately provide more time for more patients.”

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