GSK has agreed to acquire RAPT Therapeutics, adding a long-acting anti-IgE therapy for food allergies to its pipeline and aiming to reduce treatment burden while expanding patient access.
GSK plc has announced a definitive agreement to acquire RAPT Therapeutics (NASDAQ: RAPT), a California-based clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing innovative treatments for inflammatory and immunologic diseases.
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The acquisition brings ozureprubart into GSK’s pipeline, a long-acting anti-immunoglobulin E (IgE) monoclonal antibody currently in phase IIb clinical development for the prevention of food allergy reactions. IgE is a well-established therapeutic target and remains the only approved systemic approach shown to protect patients from harmful allergic and inflammatory immune responses. IgE-mediated reactions account for an estimated 94 percent of severe food allergy cases.
Existing anti-IgE therapies for food allergies typically require injections every two to four weeks, a regimen that can be particularly challenging for patients, many of whom are children. Ozureprubart is designed to allow dosing every 12 weeks, which may reduce treatment burden, improve adherence and patient outcomes, and extend treatment access to around 25 percent of patients who are currently ineligible for available therapies. The candidate also aligns with GSK’s established commercial presence and prescriber network in allergy care.
Results from the phase IIb prestIgE trial evaluating ozureprubart as a standalone therapy are expected in 2027, with subsequent phase III studies planned in both adult and paediatric populations at risk of severe food allergies. In the United States alone, more than 17 million people are living with food allergies, including over 1.3 million who experience severe reactions, leading to more than three million hospital and emergency care visits each year.
Tony Wood, Chief Scientific Officer, GSK said: “The addition of ozureprubart brings another promising new, potential best-in-class treatment to GSK’s pipeline. Food allergies cause severe health impacts to patients with existing treatment requiring injections as frequently as every 2 weeks. Ozureprubart offers the opportunity to bring sustained protection to patients with dosing every 12 weeks, and is consistent with our approach to acquire assets that address validated targets and where there is clear unmet medical need.”
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Brian Wong, President & Chief Executive Officer, RAPT Therapeutics, said: “We are excited to enter into this agreement with GSK, which offers an attractive path forward for our programs, particularly the opportunity we envision for ozureprubart in food allergy. This transaction has the potential to provide access to the global development and commercialisation capabilities, resources and infrastructure that GSK has to offer and ultimately bring added value to our pipeline, patients and stockholders.”
