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GlaxoSmithKline to Buy Corixa for $300 Million

May 11, 2005

GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) plans to acquire biotechnology firm Corixa for $300 million -- a move that will bolster the British drug giant's vaccine and antigen portfolios.

Under the terms of the cash for stock transaction, GSK will pay $4.40 for each share of Corixa, the company said. In return, GSK will receive all scientific and business programs, activities, assets and related rights of Corixa, including the firm's manufacturing facility in Hamilton, Mont. The plant produces Monophosphoryl Lipid A (MPL), a novel adjuvant contained in many of the vaccines in GSK's pipeline.

In the past, GSK paid Corixa royalties for MPL, but those payments will come to an end once the acquisition is completed, GSK said. The deal is expected to close in the third quarter.

GSK will also acquire all assets related to a candidate prophylactic tuberculosis vaccine and to a portfolio of potential immunotherapeutic cancer vaccines - being developed by GSK Biologicals -- that contain antigens discovered by Corixa pursuant to a 1998 vaccine discovery collaboration between the parties. As a result of the acquisition, GSK will no longer be required to pay royalties related to these antigens. Corixa's portfolio also includes other compounds, such as TLR4 agonists and antagonists, GSK said.