GLAXOSMITHKLINE TO ACQUIRE ANTIBODY SPECIALTY FIRM

GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) announced it has entered into an agreement to acquire UK-based specialty company Domantis for $454 million in cash. Domantis, which develops antibody therapies, will become part of GSK's Biopharmaceuticals Centre of Excellence for Drug Discovery while continuing to operate from its laboratories in Cambridge, England.

The acquisition agreement is subject to clearance under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act and is expected to be completed in January.

Monoclonal antibodies, laboratory-engineered versions of the antibodies found in the immune system, can bind with precision to targets in the body. Yet their therapeutic applications have been constrained by their large molecular size, according to GSK. Currently marketed therapeutic antibodies have to be administered by injection or infusion.

Domantis has pioneered a new type of antibody therapy based on the smallest functional binding units of human antibodies. These units, termed domain antibodies (dAbs), may be administered in inhaled, topical and, potentially, oral formulations. The technology also enables dAbs to serve as building blocks for therapeutics simultaneously directed at more than one disease target.

Current research programs at Domantis address diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and multiple myeloma.