GSK made some pipeline cuts and raised expectations for profit growth this year as it reported its final set of earnings under outgoing CEO Emma Walmsley.
The UK drugmaker axed several programs that were originally developed by other companies, starting with an anti-TIM-3 antibody called cobolimab. The drug
flunked a Phase 3 trial
in non-small cell lung cancer in June. GSK obtained cobolimab as part of its
$5.1 billion acquisition
of Tesaro in 2018.
The company also dropped a Phase 2 candidate for pulmonary fibrosis called GSK3915393 that it got from its 2019
buyout of Sitari Pharmaceuticals
for an undisclosed amount. The candidate was originally developed for the treatment of celiac disease, but GSK
ended that work
in 2023. It also nixed an anti-PVRIG antibody that was in Phase 2 development for cancer, known as GSK4381562, which it
licensed
from Surface Oncology in 2020.
GSK declined to comment on the specific reasons for each termination.
The drugmaker also got rid of four programs that it developed in-house. There’s a Phase 1 DNMT1 inhibitor for sickle cell disease, two Phase 2 vaccine candidates for cytomegalovirus and meningococcal disease, and an anti-CD96 antibody for cancer called nelistotug, which was
partnered with iTeos
and 23andMe.
Elsewhere, GSK
reported
robust Q3 sales, which rose about 8% to £8.5 billion. The strong performance was supported by “sustained double-digit growth” in specialty medicines across respiratory, immunology and inflammation, oncology and HIV, Walmsley said on its media call Wednesday.
Based on the strong performance, the company bumped expected turnover growth this year to 6% to 7%, from a previous range of 3% to 5%. It also expects core operating profit to increase between 9% and 11%, up from the higher end of 6% to 8%. Meanwhile, earnings per share are set to grow between 10% to 12%, compared with a prior range of 6% to 8%.
GSK’s
stock
is up 1.5% on the London exchange.
One area of weakness was the company’s influenza franchise, which saw sales dip about 22% to £216 million due in part to competition in the US.
“We remain very cautious about the [vaccine] environment in the US,” Walmsley said.
Last week, Sanofi’s CFO François Roger also highlighted how
“negative buzz”
around vaccines had impacted its sales.