GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), the UK’s largest drugmaker in terms of sales, is rumored to be preparing a bid for compatriot Vectura, an inhaled airways disease-focused player. The two companies already collaborate on respiratory therapies.

Reports said Vectura’s 2017 share price drop, which came after the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) rejected a generic copy made by the respiratory specialist and its partner Hikma of Glaxo’s blockbuster Advair, renders it vulnerable to a takeover attempt.

Speaking for a deal with GSK is said to be the lower share price and the fact that the drugmaker is known to be in the market for acquisitions to strengthen its pharma pipeline.

Sources told the London newspaper Daily Telegraph that Glaxo is preparing a 175-pence-per-share bid for the Chippenham-based competitor that would value Vectura at close to £1.2 billion.

Vectura’s shareholders would be likely to go along with a sale, pharmaceutical journals speculate. They say many investors were unhappy with the company’s recent announcement that it would increase its focus on lower-risk pipeline development opportunities and at the same time look for partnerships.

Glaxo has licensed Vectura's technology for products such as Breo and Anoro, and Vectura boasts some “smart inhaler” technology that the drugs giant may be interested in, too, according to the Telegraph.

The two companies have also faced each other in court. In 2016, Vectura filed suit against GSK, in the US state of Delaware, charging it breached a patent.