Forbion portfolio company Aiolos Bio, Inc. (Aiolos) is to be acquired by GSK for up to $1.4 billion, including $1 billion upfront and up to $400 million in milestone payments. You can find GSK’s announcement with further details of the acquisition here.
This follows a $245 million Series A financing in Aiolos in October 2023, co-led by Forbion, alongside Atlas Venture, Bain Capital Life Sciences, and Sofinnova Investments with additional investment from RA Capital Management.
Forbion General Partner, Wouter Joustra, who sits on the Board of Aiolos said of today’s news: "We are proud to be a founding investor in Aiolos Bio and to support their pipeline of novel medicines for respiratory conditions. Aiolos Bio is testament to the Forbion Growth Opportunities Fund strategy, where we partner with experienced management teams to bring clinical-stage assets to the next value inflection point. As a global leader in the development of respiratory medicines, GSK is an ideal partner to further advance Aiolos's innovative therapies. We are optimistic about the positive impact this collaboration could have on the lives of patients suffering from respiratory and inflammatory conditions."
This acquisition is the fourth worth $1 bn+ for a Forbion portfolio company in under a year: in May 2023, Ironwood Pharmaceuticals agreed to acquire VectivBio for a consideration of approximately $1.2bn; in July 2023, Eli Lilly agreed to acquire Versanis Bio for up to $1.925 bn; and in August 2023, Novo Nordisk agreed to acquire Inversago Pharma for up to $1.075 bn.