GSK to buy 35Pharma, picking up lung disease drug

Andrew Joseph covers health, medicine, and the biopharma industry in Europe. You can reach Andrew on Signal at drewqjoseph.71.

LONDON — Building up its base of medicines for lung diseases, GSK said Wednesday it was buying the privately held firm 35Pharma for $950 million in cash.

The centerpiece of the deal is an experimental drug called HS235 that is set to start trials in pulmonary arterial hypertension, a form of high blood pressure in the lungs. 

The disease has increasingly become a target for drugmakers in recent years. Merck’s Winrevair won approval for PAH in 2024, and reached $1.4 billion in sales last year.