GSK Sells Rights to Drug Candidate to Alfasigma for Up to $690 Million

By Adria Calatayud

GSK said it would sell rights to linerixibat, an experimental treatment for itching caused by a liver disease, to Italian pharmaceutical company Alfasigma as part of a licensing agreement valued at up to $690 million.

The U.K. pharmaceutical company said it would receive $300 million upfront and be eligible to receive another $100 million upon approval for the drug in the U.S. and a further $290 million subject to achieving additional regulatory and sales-based targets. GSK said it would also earn double-digit percentage royalties on the drug's net sales.

Under the deal, Alfasigma will gain rights to develop, manufacture and commercialize linerixibat, GSK said. Linerixibat--which isn't currently approved anywhere in the world--is a treatment for cholestatic pruritus, an internal itch caused by a liver disease called primary biliary cholangitis.

The drug has been granted orphan-drug designation in the U.S., the European Union and Japan, which is given to medicines that aim to treat rare conditions, GSK said. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is expected to decide on an application for linerixibat later this month, before the deal is closed, the company added.

GSK said the agreement sharpens the focus of its liver-disease portfolio, which includes potential treatments for chronic hepatitis B and fatty-liver disease, among other conditions.

Write to Adria Calatayud at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

03-09-26 0348ET