As Pfizer sells its stake in ViiV Healthcare, Japan-based Shionogi & Co will increase its hold in the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) medicines developer in a $2.13bn deal.
ViiV Healthcare, which was established in a joint venture by GSK and Pfizer in 2009, will issue new shares to Shionogi for $2.13bn. The deal means Shionogi, which joined as shareholder in 2012, will increase its economic interest in ViiV Healthcare to 21.7%.
The share issuance comes as Pfizer exits its 11.7% stake in ViiV Healthcare, marking an end to its involvement with the company. Pfizer will receive $1.89bn and GSK, which retains its 78.3% majority stake in ViiV Healthcare, will receive a special dividend of $250m.
Shares in Tokyo-listed Shionogi rose 2.8% to Y2925 ($18.53) at market open on 20 January compared to market close of Y2840.5 on 19 January.
ViiV Healthcare was established by Pfizer and GSK in a bid to combine resources to fight the global HIV pandemic. Both drugmakers transferred respective HIV assets to the company at the time, which included Epzicom/Kivexa (abacavir sulfate+lamivudine) and Selzentry/Celsentri (maraviroc).
ViiV Healthcare’s current product portfolio consists of 15 prescription HIV medicines, with four candidates in clinical trials. The company is particularly seeking to develop ultra long-acting therapies for treatment and prevention or long-acting injectables that could be self-administered. This follows in a similar vein to Gilead’s Yeztugo (lenacapavir), the first and only biannual pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) that won approval in the US and Europe in 2025.
David Redfern, chair of ViiV Healthcare said: “This agreement simplifies ViiV’s shareholder structure and we look forward to continuing our highly successful collaboration with Shionogi to advance ViiV’s pipeline and portfolio of long-acting injectable HIV treatment and prevention medicines.”
The current state of the HIV space
The HIV space is heavily dominated by Gilead Sciences, especially since it announced data from the Phase III trial of its twice yearly PrEP medication Yeztugo. In Phase III trials, the twice-yearly drug showed near perfect efficacy, preventing nearly 100% of HIV cases in patients who received the study drug.
The HIV market across the seven major markets (7MM: US, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the UK, and Japan) is forecast to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 1.9% from $26.5bn in 2023 to $32.1bn in 2033, forecasts GlobalData.
GlobalData is the parent company of Pharmaceutical Technology.
In 2025, the World Health Organization (WHO) called for access expansion to newly approved human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) medication amid global funding cuts.
A major hit to global HIV treatment efforts came in 2025 came when President Donald Trump cut a large amount of funding for foreign aid. This impacted HIV, malaria and tuberculosis treatment services in low-income countries supported by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
