GSK Misses Q1 Revenue Expectations and Scales Back Oncology Pipeline

Compiled by River

GSK Releases Q1 Financial Report: Sales Drop 15% Year-on-Year to $10.3 Billion (£7.4 Billion), Missing Analyst Expectations

GSK faced several major oncology setbacks in the first quarter, and R&D Chief Hal Barron is making some fine-tuning adjustments, including dropping two early-stage candidates for cancer and Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD).

GSK Reveals in Q1 Report That It Will Discontinue Phase I Development of Hematopoietic Prostaglandin D2 Synthase Inhibitor GSK3439171 for DMD and Oncology Candidate GSK3537142 Developed in Collaboration with Immunocore, Due to Portfolio Prioritization. Foreign Media Speculate That, After Dropping the Immunocore Program, GSK Will Focus on Another Anti-Cancer Candidate Developed with Adaptimmune—A T-Cell Therapy Known as GSK3377794.

Immunocore entered into an agreement with GSK as early as 2013 to license its ImmTAC molecules, which are designed to redirect the immune system to recognize and kill cancer cells. GSK committed up to $197 million (£142 million) in preclinical milestone payments to the biotechnology company, with maximum commitments of $277.9 million (£200 million) for development and commercial milestones.

Hal Barron was once seen by GSK as the hope for revitalizing its oncology portfolio, but he has faced a series of setbacks, including mid-stage failures, leading the company to abandon two trials of its inducible T-cell co-stimulator (ICOS) agonist feladilimab earlier this month. In January, the company announced the failure of a Phase III trial of bintrafusp alfa, developed in collaboration with Merck, for the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer. In March, GSK stated that the candidate drug also failed to meet endpoints as a second-line treatment for metastatic biliary tract cancer.

In addition, GSK CEO Emma Walmsley will focus on the planned spin-off of its consumer healthcare business next year. She stated that the spin-off is “progressing smoothly” and committed to outlining the company’s strategy on June 23. GSK first announced in 2018 its plan to merge its consumer health division with Pfizer’s to form a joint venture, before subsequently spinning it out from the joint venture.

Reference Source: The pressure builds for Emma Walmsley as GlaxoSmithKline misses Q1 projection, drops more cancer drugs