Nuvalent shares surge 39% after UK's GSK agrees to buy the cancer drugmaker for $10.6 billion

Britain's second-largest drugmaker GSK has entered an agreement to acquire U.S.-based drugmaker Nuvalent for $10.6 billion to bolster its oncology pipeline, in what would be its largest acquisition in more than a decade.

The all-cash deal values Nuvalent at about $124 per share, according to a GSK filing on Tuesday, representing a 40% premium to its last closing price. Nuvalent shares were last seen trading 39% higher in U.S. premarket trading. GSK shares fell 2.6% in London.

The Financial Times had reported the transaction earlier on Tuesday. Nuvalent did not respond to a request for comment.

Nuvalent is a specialist oncology, late-stage development biotech company focused on subsets of lung cancer with specific genetic mutations. The acquisition is expected to help GSK offset a drop in revenue expected when its best-selling HIV medicine loses exclusivity from 2028.

The deal would give GSK access to Nuvalent's two late-stage lung cancer treatments, which GSK said have blockbuster potential. The acquisition also includes an early-stage medicine as well as Nuvalent's preclinical portfolio of multiple programs.

"The acquisition provides GSK with immediate new sales growth opportunities," GSK CEO Luke Miels said in a statement. "The two lead products are potential best-in-class assets that could launch this year if approved by the FDA and offer significant new treatment options to patients with two forms of non-small cell lung cancer."

Barclays analysts said the deal makes sense conceptually as it adds clinically de-risked late-stage assets to GSK's existing oncology business. They, however, questioned the mega blockbuster status of the two late-stage assets – zidesamtinib and neladalkib – saying that the upside was "capped."

"The acquisition ... would accelerate GSK entry into the lung cancer space," Barclays said. "More importantly, the deal accretion could help offset HIV [loss of exclusivity] headwind starting in mid-28.

There is no change to GSK's 2026 full-year guidance of core operating profit and core earnings-per-share growth, the company said, expecting the acquisition to contribute to revenue growth from 2027.  

GSK Plc

The deal is the second largest acquisition in GSK's history, trailing its 2014 asset swap with Novartis in which it assumed control of the Swiss drugmaker's vaccines division in a transaction valued at $20 billion.

It would also mark a notable departure from the company's focus on smaller transactions in recent years.

Miels, who took over the job from longtime boss Emma Walmsley at the start of the year, told investors in February that he would focus on transactions in the £2 billion ($2.67 billion) to £4 billion range that were "hiding in plain sight."

Miels has been tasked with overhauling a company that has struggled to allay investor concerns about its drug pipeline. GSK's share price has climbed roughly 29% since Miels' appointment was announced in September.

Nuvalent's lead asset, neladalkib — a therapy that targets certain types of lung cancer — is currently undergoing FDA review with a deadline of Nov. 27.

The company also has a new drug application for zidesamtinib, for patients with a type of cancer known as ROS1-positive non-small cell lung cancer, under FDA review.

Analysts at CGS International estimated that if approved, neladalkib and zidesamtinib could generate combined annual revenues of $823 million in the 2029 financial year, in a January note to investors.

The deal also comes at a time of biotech dealmaking frenzy, driven by looming patent cliffs, newly buoyant public markets and pharma giants' race to bolster their pipelines. Biotech deals globally reached $106 billion across 201 transactions so far in 2026, according to PitchBook data, putting the sector on track for its strongest year since the pre-pandemic peak.