GSK to buy Nuvalent for $10.6 billion in biggest deal in decade

GSK has agreed to buy Nuvalent for $10.6 billion, making the Cambridge, Massachusetts, cancer-drug developer the centerpiece of the British drugmaker’s biggest acquisition in more than a decade. The all-cash deal values Nuvalent at about $124 a share, roughly a 40% premium to its last close, and puts GSK squarely into a more aggressive race for scale in oncology.

The purchase is about more than size. It gives GSK two late-stage assets, zidesamtinib and neladalkib, both designed as highly selective next-generation inhibitors for non-small cell lung cancer. Zidesamtinib, also known as NVL-520, is a next-generation ROS1 inhibitor, while neladalkib, or NVL-655, targets ALK. Both programs have FDA Breakthrough Therapy and Orphan Drug designations, and both are under review, with target decision dates of September 18, 2026 for zidesamtinib and November 27, 2026 for neladalkib.

Luke Miels, GSK’s new chief executive, has made clear that oncology is a priority. The deal signals a sharper push into the field as GSK tries to buy speed, pipeline depth and credibility in a category where it has lagged larger rivals such as AstraZeneca. GSK’s oncology sales rose 43% last year to £2.0 billion, about 6% of group sales, while total 2025 sales reached £32.7 billion. The company reiterated in February that it still expects annual sales of more than £40 billion by 2031.

The strategic logic is also tied to looming pressure in HIV. GSK’s HIV sales were £7.7 billion in 2025, and analysts have said a patent cliff around dolutegravir in 2028 could weigh on growth. The Nuvalent acquisition adds a fresh revenue platform in lung cancer and could help soften that hit. GSK said the deal also creates a launchpad for its B7-H3 targeted antibody-drug conjugate risvutatug rezetecan, or Ris-Rez, which is in phase III development.

For investors, the scale came as a surprise. GSK’s previous largest deal was the $13 billion purchase of Novartis’s 36.5% stake in its consumer healthcare joint venture, completed in 2018. GSK said the Nuvalent purchase is its second-largest acquisition overall. Nuvalent had $1.4 billion in cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities at the end of 2025, enough to fund operations into 2029, but GSK is paying to accelerate what could have been a slower path to market. That choice shows where big pharma now sees the most defensible growth: in hard-to-build cancer franchises with late-stage assets already in hand.