In just a space of 24 hours, GSK, in its second pipeline-expanding deal, has gone on to license the rights to a drug for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease – COPD from Empirico, the US biotech, for $85 million, and that too upfront. As GSK licences COPD drug from Empirico for $85mn, the agreement, also goes on to include almost $660 million in milestone payments, and happens to be focused on a small, interfering RNA – siRNA candidate against an unspecified target, which, as per GSK, goes on to address a distinct inflammatory pathway having elevated potency as well as longer dose intervals.
The drug, which is named EMP-012, has begun the phase 1 clinical testing and has also been billed as having the potential to treat a broad COPD spectrum, which includes patients having non-type 2 inflammation, who happen to have limited treatment choices.
That goes on to make it a potential companion drug to the IL-5 inhibitor Nucala – mepolizumab of GSK, which went on to have its label extended to include the add-on maintenance treatment when it comes to adult patients with inadequately controlled COPD as well as high levels of white cells named eosinophils, an indicator of a type 2 inflammatory response.
It is well to be noted that Nucala happens to be already a $2.4 billion blockbuster for GSK out of its main use in critical asthma; however, COPD is anticipated to be a prominent growth driver for the drug, given that it happens to be the third leading cause of death across the world and goes on to affect over 300 million people across the world.
Dupixent’s (dupilumab) IL-4 and IL-13 inhibitor from Sanofi and Regeneron has been approved for COPD; however, only in patients whose disease is driven bytype 2 inflammation. It is anticipated that the majority of cases, which are as high as 60% to 80%, happen to be non-type 2.
Notably, by 2050, the prevalence of COPD is anticipated to increase to almost 600 million people and also become the leading cause in terms of all hospital admissions, costing the healthcare systems a whopping $4 trillion, says GSK.
The chief executive and president of Empirico, Omri Gottesman, went on to say that the GSK deal is going to help speed up the EMP-012 development and also validates the massive potential of proprietary target discovery of Empirico and siRNA platforms so as to rapidly generate differentiated clinical programmes having a significant value.
It is well to be noted that Empirico is going to lead the development of the drug via the completion of the present phase 1 study, with GSK going ahead and taking it forward thereafter. Apart from Nucala, GSK happens to be running phase 3 trials concerning depemokimab, the long-acting IL-5 inhibitor in COPD, and also happens to have an anti-IL-33 antibody – GSK3862995 within the early-stage clinical development.
Apparently, apart from the news of GSK licences COPD drug from Empirico, on October 27, 2025, GSK went on to add another antibody drug conjugate to its cancer pipeline by way of a $358 million agreement along with Syndivia, the French biotech.
