GSK will Test Antibody to Treat Covid Patients
British pharma giant Glaxo SmithKline plans to enter the race to find treatments for patients suffering from Covid-19. The drugmaker said it has identified a monoclonal antibody from its pipeline, anti-GM-CSF (granulocyte macrophage colony-stimulating factor) otilimab, as a “potential treatment for patients who have been hospitalized with COVID-related severe pulmonary complications.”
GSK said it will begin mid-stage testing by the end of May in around 800 patients in a randomized, placebo-controlled trial. The drug is already in trials for arthritis, but the company hopes it can be repurposed to help virus patients who are hit with a cytokine storm as a potentially fatal secondary complication.
If the results are positive, it will work with regulators to make the medicine available to patients as quickly as possible. Originally developed by MorphoSys, the drug entered a phase 3 trial in rheumatoid arthritis last year.
GSK Unloads Unilever Stake
In other news, GSK announced late last month it had sold its 5.7% stake in Unilever’s Indian business, Hindustan Unilever Limited ( HUL) to the Unilever group for $3.35 billion.
The sale follows the drugmaker’s divestment of several consumer health nutrition brands to Unilever in April. At the same time, it merged its India-listed consumer healthcare business with HUL.
Selling the Unilever stake is regarded as an important step for GSK’s withdrawal from consumer health, which hinges on a planned spinoff of its joint venture with Pfizer to focus on higher-margin innovative drugs and vaccines.
