Zoster vaccine recombinant, adjuvanted(GlaxoSmithKline Plc)

GSK said its decoupling with Haleon is a key reason why it views itself as “well-positioned” in the face of potential pharma-specific tariffs. When the drugmaker went through its “ demerger ” with the consumer health business in 2022, there were “very intentional, deliberate choices to reset” its supply chain for “regional resilience” as well as “double sourcing” to allow for flexibility, CEO Emma Walmsley said. It has “mitigation options” that it could execute across its manufacturing networks once pharma levies are in place, the UK company said in a statement. “We’re watching it very carefully … we are well-prepared,” Walmsley said during GSK’s first-quarter earnings call with the media. Some drug developers and CDMOs have similarly expressed how their earlier moves — which were made even before the talk of tariffs emerged — would help them navigate sector-specific levies regardless of what these might look like. President Donald Trump’s tariffs have been a central theme during this earnings season as drugmakers disclose their exposures and strategies to varying degrees. Last week, Roche CEO Thomas Schinecker said the pharma tariffs could have a negative impact on dealmaking. But Walmsley somewhat disagreed, saying “there are some opportunities” for deals and that half of GSK’s pipeline comes from this business development approach. “We’re constantly looking at things … and we also continue to look at the opportunities out of China on BD. We’ve done several good deals ,” she said. GSK’s disappointing vaccine sales stood out in Q1. Sales for this franchise dropped 6% in the quarter due to “known headwinds,” GSK said. Shingrix struggled in the US due to “harder-to-reach unvaccinated customers” and increased channel inventory consumption. As for Arexvy, sales disappointed because of the FDA’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices’ constricted recommendation only for people aged 60 to 74. But Jefferies analysts said GSK’s vaccine sales of £2.1 billion were actually better than consensus expectations of £2.05 billion. Shingrix beat forecasts with £867 million in worldwide sales, although Arexvy sales are still notably low at £78 million. Walmsley added that both vaccines still have room for growth internationally. Despite these market challenges, Walmsley told the media GSK does not intend to change its R&D plans for vaccines. Overall, GSK had a positive total sales profile, pulling in £7.5 billion in Q1, up 4% at constant exchange rates. Its shares were up by as much as 4% on the London Stock Exchange on Wednesday morning. The company’s specialty medicines portfolio had a particularly solid performance at £2.9 billion — a 17% jump — beating Jefferies’ consensus estimates of £2.84 billion. “We’ve been able to strengthen the portfolio with a shift to more specialty medicines, and that creates oxygen through the gross margin,” Walmsley said. Notably, Jemperli pulled in £174 million in Q1 compared with a lower benchmark of £145 million. GSK said Jemperli’s US sales momentum is supported by the drug’s approval in all patients with primary advanced or recurrent endometrial cancer. GSK also touted its market progress with Ojjaara at £112 million, as the myelofibrosis therapy makes headway in the US and other territories. But analysts noted the drug’s sales just missed forecasts at £117 million. Nonetheless, GSK’s overall showing on Wednesday follows the optimistic tune played in February, when it set a higher bar for its 2031 sales outlook to at least $40 billion. This is a £2 billion jump from a prior target. Looking at its clinical pipeline, GSK discontinued a Phase 2 trial of an anti-IL18 antibody, codenamed GSK1070806, for atopic dermatitis due to pipeline prioritization. Endpoints News previously reported that GSK’s ViiV Healthcare stopped work on its HIV antiviral named VH3739937.

iStock, Magdalena Wygralak GSK’s dealmaking will be “cautious and disciplined” under the current trade war, but the pharma will focus on looking for “opportunities created” amid these tensions, according to CEO Emma Walmsley. The company also reported a 4% earnings bump for the quarter. GSK is choosing to look on the bright side of President Donald Trump’s trade war, focusing on “opportunities created,” even as tariffs escalate already-fraught geopolitical tensions. “I’m going to be more optimistic,” CEO Emma Walmsley said in the company’s first quarter earnings call on Wednesday. She noted that even as the Trump administration singles out China as its biggest biotech threat, GSK continues to “look at the opportunities out of China ,” pointing to “several good deals.” In December 2024, for instance, GSK inked a potential $1 billion deal with Shanghai-based DualityBio to license a novel antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) against a yet-undisclosed stomach cancer target. A year earlier, in December 2023, the pharma likewise entered into an ADC-focused partnership with Hansoh Pharma, putting $1.7 billion on the line. “About half” of GSK’s pipeline comes from dealmaking, Walmsley said during the call, while the other half is driven by its internal research efforts. “Since 2018, we’ve increased our investment in R&D by nearly 90%,” she added, “but we want to keep complementing that with [business development].” “We want to engage, we seek to move agilely, we are always focused on returns—and obviously you have to take a cautious and disciplined view in the current environment, but we still see opportunity here,” she added. Walmsley stands on the optimistic side, particularly as concerns grow around potential dealmaking problems that Trump’s trade war could pose. Roche CEO Thomas Schinecker, for instance, said during the pharma’s Q1 report last week that “it will be more difficult to make financial sense of any M&A deals” if tariffs get in the way. On the numbers side of the Q1 earnings call GSK reported that it made £7.52 billion in the quarter —approximately $10 billion—a 4% year-on-year increase. Its specialty medicines business emerged with the strongest performance, driven by its HIV portfolio, which grew 7% year-on-year to bring in £1.7 billion (nearly $2.3 billion). Its shingles vaccine Shingrix brought in £867 million (more than $1.1 billion) in the quarter, down 7% from the same period a year prior. GSK attributed the sales hit to the “slowdown in the pace of penetration” in the U.S., particularly in “harder-to-reach unvaccinated consumers.” The company’s vaccine division was a major topic of conversation on the earnings call. The pharma in its Q1 report revealed that it expects its vaccine portfolio to decrease by a low single-digit percentage this year, driven primarily by lower expected demand for Shingrix and its respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) shot Arexvy. One link to this downward forecast is macro-headwinds in the U.S., given the notable vaccine criticism from HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. To that point, Walmsley stands by vaccine technology, saying that “there is no better benefit than stopping disease before it starts.” Nevertheless, she said that “parents have questions, and [pharma] should answer those responsibly and transparently.” But for the most part, she said, GSK is insulated from Kennedy’s current rhetoric on vaccines, in particular the safety of childhood immunizations. “Pediatric vaccination is a relatively small part of our business in America,” Walmsley pointed out. Its highest-growth shots—Shingrix and Arexvy—are indicated for adults, as are its upcoming vaccines.