01 November 2023
If you are covering GSK’s latest financial results, please find below a comment from Sheena Berry, healthcare research analyst at Quilter Cheviot:
“GSK produced a strong financial quarter and as such has raised its full year outlook, thanks to some good performance in its vaccines and removal of some overhang from the litigation around Zantac.
“Shingrix, the group’s shingles vaccine, continues to deliver robust growth, with sales up 15% in the quarter, although it should be noted that this was a little light of expectations. It is expected that sales will continue to be strong, particularly outside the US, thanks to the recent partnership with Zhifei in China for the co-promotion of the vaccine, which will help underpin the group’s peak sales target of £4bn.
“Furthermore, after GSK announced in August that its vaccine Arexvy for the prevention of lower respiratory tract disease caused by respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) in individuals 60 years and older was available in US retail pharmacies, there has been a lot of focus on the early launch dynamics and the state of sales. The launch in the US is going well due to strong demand but also benefiting from some initial inventory build.
“The most significant headwind, the second Zantac litigation case, has been settled and won’t now reach a court room and helps reduce some risk. The next event on investors’ horizons is the important HIV patent that is expiring in a few years. GSK offers good earnings growth potential for investors, but with risks still present, focus has to turn to business development to enhance the pipeline and product offering to help it continue this growth in the medium and long terms.”
