Record shingles jab sales record a shot in the arm for GSK

GSK boss Dame Emma Walmsley received a shot in the arm after record sales of its shingles vaccine pushed up profits.

The pharma giant also predicted strong growth for 2023 despite declining sales of its Covid treatments.

For 2022, GSK reported profits of £8.2billion, up 26 per cent year-on-year, and sales rose 19 per cent to £29.3billion.

The figures were boosted by sales of shingles vaccine Shingrix, up 72 per cent in the year to a record £3billion due to strong demand in the US and Europe.

Double-digit growth was recorded in sales of medicines for diseases such as HIV.

GSK forecast 2023 profit growth of 10 to 12 per cent with sales rises of 6 per cent to 8 per cent. 

‘2022 was a landmark year for GSK delivering the step change in performance we committed to… We enter 2023 with good momentum, underpinning confidence in our ambitious sales and profit outlooks,’ Walmsley said. 

Shares fell 0.3 per cent, or 3.8p, to 1419.6p. It is GSK’s first annual figures since it split consumer healthcare business Haleon, maker of Sensodyne toothpaste, into a separate firm last year to focus on vaccines and new drugs.

Some activist investors said it should have been sold and questioned Walmsley’s ability.

GSK has snapped up several drug developers and is racing to get regulatory approval for a vaccine against respiratory syncytial virus, a cold-like illness that can cause severe symptoms in infants and older adults.

It is battling US rivals Pfizer and Moderna to be the first with a jab, with the market estimated to be worth billions.

Walmsley said UK life sciences were at a tipping point and the ‘right decisions’ had to be made urgently to ensure they continued driving growth, adding: ‘Getting it right is what’s going to make sure there is continued investment in the UK and not just from GSK, which remains committed to this country, but also from other multinationals.’