GSK Outgoing CEO Reaffirms £40 Billion Sales Target by 2031 Amid Strategic Transition

After nine years at the helm of GSK, Walmsley will officially step down at the end of 2025. In her final CEO report, she made it clear that the £40 billion sales target remains a core focus for the company and will not be adjusted due to changes in leadership.

This commitment is not just empty talk. The Q3 2025 financial report shows that GSK's sales reached £8.5 billion, an 8% year-on-year increase at constant exchange rates, with core profits surging 15%. The company promptly raised its full-year guidance, forecasting 6%-7% sales growth for 2025, far exceeding the previous expectation of 3%-5%. In 2024, GSK’s revenue was £31.376 billion, marking only a 3% year-on-year increase, and it fell out of the top ten global pharmaceutical companies by revenue due to a decline in its vaccine business. Now, the recovery in performance lays the foundation for achieving its goals.

GSK's current business shows a clear "two extremes" pattern. The specialty drug segment has become the absolute growth engine, contributing 11.81 billion pounds in revenue in 2024, accounting for over 40%, with a year-on-year increase of 16% in the first half of 2025. Among them, HIV, oncology, and respiratory/immunology all achieved double-digit growth, with the oncology business maintaining over 47% high-speed growth for two consecutive reporting periods.

Vaccines and general medicines face challenges. In 2024, revenue from the vaccines business declined by 4% year-over-year. Sales of the RSV vaccine dropped significantly due to age restrictions on vaccination, while only the shingles vaccine maintained stability. The newly approved pentavalent meningitis vaccine is highly anticipated. The general medicines segment showed fluctuations in performance, with a year-over-year decline of 3% even occurring in the first half of 2025, becoming a drag on overall performance growth.

Mills, the new CEO who will take office in January 2026, is a core senior executive nurtured internally by GSK. Since joining the company in 2017, he has led the expansion of the specialty drug portfolio, making significant contributions particularly in the fields of oncology and respiratory diseases.

Market Reacts Positively to Leadership Transition: GSK Shares Surge Over 13% in Three Consecutive Trading Days Following Announcement. Mills to Continue "Biopharma-Focused" Strategy, Doubling Down on Oncology and Respiratory/Immunology. The company has been expanding its pipeline through acquisitions and collaborations, including the introduction of ADC drugs and tri-specific antibody products, while advancing the launch of a next-generation ultra-long-acting IL-5 monoclonal antibody — all key drivers toward the $40 billion target.

GSK Still Faces Multiple Challenges. The molecular patent of its core HIV drug, dolutegravir, is set to expire in 2027, posing a risk of generic drug competition. Although new products such as long-acting injectables are gaining momentum, substitution pressure remains. Additionally, the vaccine business urgently needs more blockbuster products to fill the gap, and stable growth in the general medicines segment also remains unresolved.

Investors remain skeptical about the company's ability to overcome the patent cliff and sustain growth, which is also a key reason why GSK's stock price is trading at a discount relative to its peers. For Mills, the top priority after taking over will be converting short-term performance recovery into long-term growth momentum.