Hey GSK, It's a New Year with New Leadership, Let's Restart Celiac Disease Research in 2026
- Jon Bari
- Jan 2
- 6 min read
Updated: Jan 21
An Open Letter to Luke Miels at GSK from 12-Year Old Jax Bari
Dear Mr. Miels,
As we begin a new year -- and with GSK now under new leadership -- I respectfully ask that you consider restarting Celiac Disease research in 2026. This will give hope to my community of 3.3 million Americans with Celiac, including about 729,000 kids like me.
On February 1, 2023, Fierce Biotech reported that GSK terminated its Celiac Disease R&D program (3195393, TG2 inhibitor). This update was buried on page 33 of GSK's, Full year and Q4 2022 results, Conference call and webcast for investors and analysts, Innovation: R&D pipeline changes since last quarter, February 1, 2023.
According to Fierce Biotech, "GSK's decade long involvement with the TG2 pathway has hit a setback. Ten years after helping found Sitari Pharmaceuticals and four years after buying it outright, the British Big Pharma has dropped plans to develop its drug candidate in celiac disease while leaving the door open to other indications."
Sitari was founded with funding from GSK and Avalon Ventures. Sitari had raised a $10 million Series A round to advance research building on Stanford University scientist Chaitan Khosla, Ph.D.’s work on TG2 inhibition. GSK acquired Sitari in 2019 and advanced Sitari's lead candidate, GSK3915393, into the clinic the following year. GSK completed the clinical study in 2021, but the asset remained in the company's early-stage pipeline until February 2023. At the time when GSK quietly killed its Celiac research, GSK moved 3915393 back into the research portfolio. This effectively ended GSK's plans to develop the drug for Celiac Disease while stopping short of discontinuing the program entirely.
This was such disheartening news, especially given what GSK's former CEO Emma Walmsley told Fierce Biotech,
"I don't think there are any further plans to pursue celiac disease. It will be, again, simply a question of really putting as much discipline as we can into our capital allocation. We do that now across the full portfolio of vaccines and medicines, and we just try and look to see where we're going to not only get the right impact for patients, but the right of return on that R&D investment with the right kind of portfolio mix in terms of risks and rewards." -- GSK CEO Emma Walmsley
Given GSK's role as a global biopharma company, GSK is a bellwether for the pharma industry. After GSK had acquired Sitari in 2019, it signaled that other large pharma companies might be more interested in pursuing Celiac treatments other than a Gluten Free diet. GSK's pullback has been a negative signal to the marketplace.
The reporting suggested that GSK's termination of Celiac R&D is because Celiacs do not represent a large enough market opportunity for return on investment.
As of September 30, 2025, GSK had reported an operating profit of £6.83 billion in 2025. You don't need a degree from the London School of Economics or Wharton to know that £6.83 billion is a lot of money in any currency -- pounds, dollars or euros.
GSK Can Afford to Restart Celiac Research
GSK can certainly afford to restart Celiac Disease, and in the currency of hope and impact, that would be really meaningful to the Celiac Disease community! It's time to restore Celiac research to GSK's Respiratory, Immunology & Inflammation pipeline. This could have the right impact for Celiac patients and their loved ones, as well as the right kind of portfolio mix in terms of risks and rewards through the potential of drug repurposing.
I urge you to reconsider and restart Celiac Disease research. Thank you for your consideration.
Jax Bari
Update: GSK Entered Agreement to Acquire RAPT Therapeutics
On January 20 2026, GSK announced that it was acquiring RAPT Therapeutics for $2.2 Billion:
"Acquisition includes ozureprubart, a potentially best-in-class anti-IgE antibody, in development for prophylactic protection against food allergens
Ozureprubart offers potential to protect against food allergy reactions with less frequent dosing compared to existing standard-of-care therapy
Food allergies are increasing with significant unmet need and serious health risks
Acquisition adds to Respiratory, Immunology & Inflammation pipeline"
We applaud GSK's bold move to add RAPT to GSK's Respiratory, Immunology & Inflammation pipeline.
However, in the press release, GSK cited a statistic that "around 94% of severe food allergies are caused by IgE-mediated reactions." We would urge caution here as this statistic is potentially misleading as it excludes Non IgE-Mediated reactions such as Celiac Disease, Food Protein-Induced Enterocolitis Syndrome (FPIES), Eosinophilic Esophagitis (EoE), etc. It's not just a matter of saying that 94% of severe food allergies are caused by IgE-mediated reactions and 6% of severe food allergies are caused by Non IgE-mediated reactions.
It is important to put GSK's statistics in perspective when addressing the food allergy market opportunity.
Food Allergies By the Numbers (IgE Mediated Food Allergies)
According to Food Allergy Research & Education (FARE):
33 Million Americans have food allergies (mostly to the Top 9 Major Food Allergens: Milk, Eggs, Fish, Crustacean Shellfish, Tree Nuts, Peanuts, Wheat, Soybeans & Sesame)
1 in 10 adults
1 in 13 children (about 2 in every U.S. classroom)
Every 10 seconds, a food allergy reaction sends a patient to an Emergency Room.
2.4 million Americans are allergic to Wheat (Non-Celiac); wheat allergic individuals "often react to closely related cereals like barley and rye, less frequently to the more distant relative, oats."
Quantifying Gluten Allergies & Intolerances: Impact of Public Policy
It's estimated that about 25.7 million Americans have some type of food allergy or intolerance to eating Gluten, a protein found in Wheat, Barley, Rye and most Oats (through cross-contamination with Wheat, Barley and Rye).
2.4 million Americans - IgE-Mediated food allergy to Wheat and cross reactivity to Barley, Rye and Oats (potentially life-threatening)
3.3 million Americans with Celiac Disease, Non-IgE Mediated food allergy to Gluten (potentially life-threatening)
20+ million Americans with Non-Celiac Gluten Sensitivity (NCGS) or intolerance (non life-threatening). It's important to note that NCGS is a digestive system response to Gluten and not an immune system response.
Note on GSK's Market Estimation: Around 94% of Severe Food Allergies are Caused by IgE-Mediated Reactions
In GSK's press release regarding its acquisition of RAPT Therapeutics, GSK cited a statistic that "around 94% of severe food allergies are caused by IgE-mediated reactions."
In the case of Celiac Disease, there is no known treatment whatsoever other than a strict Gluten Free diet for life. There is no rescue medicine available in the event of accidental ingestion.
As such, this 94% statistic from the MarketScan and Optum claims database that GSK cited does not meaningfully include adverse health reactions that many Celiacs face every day from Gluten ingestion.
This 94% figure implies that an IgE-Mediated food allergy medicine may alleviate problems faced by 94% of food allergic individuals. Does the IgE-Mediated therapeutic market actually help 94% percent of people with food allergies and hypersensitivities?
This question is worth exploring because it sheds light on why GSK is only focusing its research on IgE-Mediated food allergies after terminating all Celiac research. Also, the meaning and accuracy of this 94% statistic is important because it may generate a sense of complacency by GSK, big pharma, investors and analysts with regard to only researching IgE-Mediated food allergies; the belief that problems which have may be remedied for 94% of food allergy individuals lessens the impetus to work to provide more widespread medical research to include Non IgE-Mediated food allergies.
First, it is inaccurate to view the statistic as asserting that 94% of Americans with food allergies and hypersensitivities will be potentially helped by this new RAPT acquisition. As the term "food allergies" may make plain to the initiated, this 94% figure refers only to people with IgE-mediated, immediate hypersensitivity reactions to food (minutes), not to people with potentially delayed hypersensitivity reactions (minutes to hours) such as those with Celiac Disease.
The 94% claim, thus, is an assertion limited to people with typical food allergies proper. Although 94% of food allergic adverse reactions that are captured in the MarketScan and Optum claims database may be caused by IgE-Mediated food allergies, that does not mean that 94% percent of food allergy sufferers are helped. People could experience multiple reactions and be counted multiple times, meaning the percent of food-allergic individuals with is considerably less than 94%.
Moreover, the only practical treatment that an Emergency Room could offer to any Celiac patient who is suffering adverse health effects from Gluten ingestion and an autoimmune cascade would be to provide hydration (i.e., IV fluids) in the event that the vomiting and diarrhea have caused the Celiac patient to become dehydrated. In other words, the MarketScan and Optum claims database, for all intents and purposes, does not capture Non IgE-Mediated adverse reactions routinely suffered by the Celiac community.
