NEW YORK, June 10, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Deerfield Management, an investment firm dedicated to advancing healthcare, today announced that portfolio company Nuvalent, Inc. has entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by GSK for $10.6 billion.
Nuvalent is a clinical-stage precision oncology company founded in 2017 by Deerfield in collaboration with chemical biologist and Harvard University professor Matthew Shair, PhD. The company is led by Chief Executive Officer James Porter, PhD.
As sole founding investor in Nuvalent, Deerfield seeded the company in 2017, then funded the entirety of the company’s $50 million Series A beginning in 2018 before it emerged out of stealth in January 2021. Deerfield supported a $135M Series B in May 2021 and Nuvalent launched a public offering in July of that same year.
“When we seeded Nuvalent, we saw the building blocks of an incredible opportunity – cutting-edge scientific technology tailored to address a critical unmet need in oncology, combined with smart and capable investigators who were prepared to work hand in hand with us to identify and test critical hypotheses,” said Cam Wheeler, PhD, Partner at Deerfield and board member at Nuvalent. “Once it became clear what Nuvalent’s technology had the potential to do for patients, we supported the company in moving quickly into the clinic.”
“Nuvalent was founded on a compelling scientific premise – that by combining expertise in structure-based small molecule design with key clinical insights from physician-scientists, the company could design highly selective ROS1 and ALK inhibitors that are able to overcome both drug resistance and toxicity,” said Joe Pearlberg, PhD, VP, Scientific Affairs at Deerfield and board member at Nuvalent. “We are delighted to see this approach come to fruition for patients.”
With two late-stage, potential best-in-class, next-generation, highly selective ROS1 and ALK inhibitors for treatment of non-small cell lung cancer, Nuvalent is advancing a pipeline of additional small molecules with the goal to overcome resistance, minimize adverse events, address brain metastases, and drive more durable responses for patients in need.
“The Nuvalent story is an exemplary illustration of the power of the Deerfield ecosystem,” said Jim Flynn, Managing Partner at Deerfield. “As great ideas and compelling technologies emerge from Deerfield’s academic network, our team can move quickly to partner with investigators and clinicians, develop and maintain conviction in an audacious and valuable thesis, and do our best to push the limits of medicine for patients who stand in need. We congratulate the Nuvalent team on this exceptional outcome, which is a testament to the value the company has built, and celebrate the company’s agreement to be acquired by GSK, a global biopharma company that we believe will make an excellent home for Nuvalent’s therapeutics.”
Deerfield believes that advancing healthcare often requires more than a for-profit investment model can provide. For that reason, all profits from Deerfield’s Healthcare Innovation Fund (which invested in Nuvalent) that would otherwise flow back to the firm will be donated to the Deerfield Foundation, a private, not-for-profit organization founded, funded, and run by Deerfielders. Pursuant to this transaction, the Foundation is expected to receive upwards of $200 million.
“Since its inception in 2005, the Deerfield Foundation has sought to harness the experience, generosity, and commitment of Deerfielders to improve the lives of patients and families, particularly children in need of better healthcare,” said Alexis Cazé, President of the Deerfield Foundation. “This transformative infusion of capital creates a unique opportunity and responsibility to build a philanthropy platform capable of advancing healthcare thoughtfully, ambitiously, and at meaningful scale.”
About Deerfield Management
Deerfield is an investment management firm committed to advancing healthcare through investment, intelligence, and philanthropy. The Deerfield ecosystem is headquartered at Cure, a premier healthcare innovation campus in New York City, and includes Deerfield Discovery and Development (3DC), the firm’s internal research & development engine, and Deerfield Intelligence, the firm’s data, technology, and artificial intelligence arm. Deerfield works across the healthcare ecosystem to connect people, capital, ideas, and technology in bold, collaborative, and inclusive ways. For more information, please visit www.deerfield.com.
Contact
Jessica Sagers, PhD, Head of Communications
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SOURCE Deerfield Management Company, L.P.
