GSK could pay as much as $3.3B for rights to new sleeping pill

Research Triangle Park, N.C. — GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE: GSK) will pay as much as $3.3 billion for a new insomnia drug being developed by Actelion, a biopharmaceutical drug developer based in Switzerland.

Actelion’s compound, called almorexant, is in Phase III clinical trials.

GSK, which maintains one of its two U.S. headquarters in RTP, won a bidding war for the rights.

Actelion will receive an upfront payment as well as milestone payments and royalties should the drug win regulatory approval.

"While expectations in the market for this deal have been high, we believe Actelion has exceeded them,” drug analyst Samni Devani at Nomura Code said, according to Bloomberg News.

GSK will pay 40 percent of development costs.

According to Actelion, almorexant so far has demonstrated effectiveness in restoring sleep with no serious side effects. The compound targets orexin, a hormone whose lack is linked to some sleep disorders.

“GSK and Actelion both share the vision – based on our individual research efforts – that orexin receptor antagonists have tremendous potential,” Moncef Slaoui, GSK’s chairman of research and development, said in a statement. “By targeting orexin, which is known to help regulate the sleep-wake cycle, these novel molecules could help to reduce or even eliminate some of the side-effects associated with current sleep treatments.”