GSK shares lift on £268m prostate cancer deal

(Sharecast News) - GSK shares lifted on Monday after the pharmaceutical giant signed a £268m deal with French biotech Syndivia for a potential treatment for prostate cancer. The company acquired exclusive worldwide rights to develop and sell the treatment for metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) that is currently in pre-clinical studies.

GSK said the drug, would complement its pipeline for prostate cancer medicines. Under the terms of the agreement, Syndivia will receive an upfront payment as well as success-based development and commercial milestone payments up to a total of £268m.

Syndivia's antibody drug conjugate (ADC) has already proven its effectiveness at shrinking tumors in preclinical studies "without causing a proportional increase in significant side effects, even at higher doses", the company said in a statement.

Approximately 1.4 million men worldwide are diagnosed with prostate cancer each year and approximately 10-20% develop advanced disease, castration resistance with metastases, within five years.

"For patients whose cancer has advanced to mCRPC, targeted treatment options are limited, and standard of care options may be difficult to access in community practice settings, and can be poorly tolerated with modest efficacy outcomes. Survival rates for these patients are low, with a five-year survival rate of approximately 30% and a median survival of approximately two years," GSK said.

It added that the ADC had shown enhanced anti-tumour activity in preclinical studies, shrinking tumours without causing a proportional increase in significant side effects, even at higher doses.

"This ADC could provide a targeted treatment directly to the tumour, currently a gap in available therapies, along with a more easily accessible treatment in the community practice setting for mCRPC," GSK said.

Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com