GlaxoSmithKline has boosted its presence in cardiovascular medicine by buying a privately held US specialist company for $1.65 billion.

Based in North Carolina, Reliant markets four in-licensed products in the US, and earned sales of $341 million in the first nine months of 2007, up 62% over the previous year.

One of the company's most promising products is Lovaza (omega-3-acid ethyl esters) a treatment for adult patients with very high levels of triglycerides. The product was launched in the US in late 2005, but doubled its sales in the first nine months of this year to $206 million.

Developed by Norwegian company BioPharma, the drug has been out-licensed around the world, and is marketed in the UK by Solvay as Omacor.

Total sales in the US non-statin dyslipidaemia market reached around $2.2 billion in 2006 and are expected to grow in excess of 20% a year. The company believes there are significant growth opportunities for Lovaza in this market segment.

Chris Viehbacher, head of GSK's US pharma operations, said: "The addition of Lovaza to the GSK portfolio adds a new driver of sales growth in the US business. It represents a strong strategic fit, complementing Coreg CR, a leading treatment for heart failure and hypertension, and adds to our growing profile in the cardiovascular disease area."

GSK's acquisition trial

The purchase is one of the biggest pay outs for a specialist player in 2007, a tactic that has proved very popular with big pharma companies this year.

No longer convinced of the benefits of mergers between large pharma companies, the sector is looking for smaller companies with either a strong R&D base or fast growing niche products or both.

Reliant's success has been built exclusively on in-licensing - its portfolio of drugs currently on the market are all in-licensed from other companies, and it has no R&D or manufacturing operations.

The company is likely to help improve GSK's overall profitability and boost its presence in cardiovascular medicine, an area where it currently has limited penetration.

Earlier this year GSK bought UK based antibody specialists Domantis for £230 million ($454 million), which has been integrated into the company's biotech drug discovery centre in Cambridge.

pharmafocus@wiley.co.uk