GSK in HIV drug deal with Shionogi

GlaxoSmithKline has beefed up its interest in an HIV drug which analysts regard as a potential multi-billion-dollar-a-year blockbuster.

A new deal with Shionogi sees Britain's biggest pharmaceuticals company give the Japanese drug maker a 10 per cent stake in Viiv Healthcare – an HIV drug joint venture set up in 2009 between GSK and Pfizer – in exchange for its rights to dolutegravir, a once-daily HIV medicine hich has performed well in clinical trials.

Previously, income from the medicine would have been shared 50/50 between Viiv and Shionogi, where now GSK will earn as much as 66 per cent from the drug.