Can GSK cure its growth problem with cancer drugs?

British pharma giant GSK is acquiring US biotech company Nuvalent for $10.6 billion, making it one of the company's biggest deals in more than a decade.

The deets: GSK will pay $124 per share in cash, a hefty 40% premium to Nuvalent's last closing price. The deal is expected to close in 2026 and marks the first major acquisition under GSK's new CEO Luke Miels.

Nuvalent develops targeted cancer drugs, particularly for lung cancer patients with specific genetic mutations. Instead of treating all cancer patients the same way, these medicines are designed to target the exact genetic changes driving the disease.

The why: the acquisition gives GSK access to three promising cancer treatments in one go.

Two of those drugs are already in the final stages of regulatory review in the US and could potentially launch as early as next year if approved. Both are aimed at treating forms of lung cancer that often affect non-smokers and currently have limited treatment options.

For GSK, this is a chance to strengthen its cancer business without having to spend years developing drugs from scratch.