News

GSK Completes Acquisition of Gunderson Dettmer Client Affinivax

August 16, 2022Client News

Gunderson Dettmer represented biopharmaceutical company Affinivax, Inc. in its completed acquisition by global healthcare company GSK for $3.3 billion. The initial announcement between the two companies occurred on May 31, 2022, when it was announced that GSK will pay $2.1 billion upfront and up to $1.2 billion in potential development milestones. To continue GSK’s strategy of building a strong portfolio of specialty medicines and vaccines, GSK will leverage Affinivax’s technology platform Multiple Antigen Presenting System (MAPS) to develop advanced next-generation vaccines, including the 24-valent pneumococcal vaccine candidate. Gunderson has represented Affinivax, Inc. since incorporation.

In the announcement of the completed acquisition, Chief Scientific Officer of GSK Tony Wood said, “Affinivax’s exciting pneumococcal vaccine candidates, the potentially disruptive MAPs technology and their fantastic scientific talent, further strengthen our pipeline of novel vaccines and presence in the Boston area.”

The Gunderson Dettmer deal team was led by Tim Ehrlich and included corporate associates Graham Rogers, Gabriella Stearns and Sandra Lucero, M&A partner Andrew Luh and associates Matt Martinez and Alice Billmire, public companies partner Keith Scherer and associate John Maciejewski, tax/ fund partner Mark Foster and associate Morgan Otway, executive compensation partner Jim Hauser and associate Chris Shin, labor and employment partner Natalie Pierce and associate Jeff Salomon, and tech/IP associates Beatrice Igne-Bianchi, Julie Bateman, Rithika Kulathila, Keon L. Seif-Naraghi, Lydia Carnvale, and Shagun Parekh.

Companies:
Affinivax
GSK