GlaxoSmithKline has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire RAPT Therapeutics for a total equity value of $2.2 billion, representing $58.00 per share. The deal grants GSK global rights—excluding mainland China, Macau, Taiwan and Hong Kong—to ozureprubart (Ozu), a long-acting anti-IgE monoclonal antibody in mid-stage trials for protection against severe food allergies. Ozu is currently in a phase 2b study in the United States, enrolling patients allergic to peanut, milk, egg, cashew or walnut, with top-line data expected next year. Late-stage trials are slated to begin in H2 2027, targeting both pediatric and adult populations at risk of anaphylaxis. If approved and launched by 2031, Ozu is forecasted to achieve blockbuster status with annual sales exceeding $1 billion, supporting GSK’s ambition to reach total revenues of £40 billion by that year. The acquisition marks the first major transaction under chief executive Luke Miels’s leadership and positions GSK to challenge Novartis’s Xolair, the only FDA-approved anti-IgE therapy today, which is projected to generate US sales above $1.5 billion this year.

GSK has announced the recipients of its Linked by Lupus: Optimal Care Initiative grants, distributing close to $1 million to national, state and local non-profit organizations dedicated to improving early diagnosis and management of systemic lupus erythematosus and lupus nephritis. The funded programs include a telehealth screening project in underserved rural communities, an educational outreach partnership with school nurses in five states and a mobile clinic pilot serving urban neighborhoods with high lupus prevalence. Each grantee will receive between $100,000 and $250,000 to implement evidence-based interventions over the next 12 months. This investment underscores GSK’s commitment to enhancing patient outcomes and reducing diagnostic delays, which currently average three years from symptom onset to formal lupus diagnosis in the United States.