GSK Vaccine Sales Fall Short: Investors React to Revised Forecast

GSK cut its 2024 vaccine sales forecast after quarterly revenue from its shingles and RSV vaccines missed expectations. Despite boosting full-year sales and profit estimates, shares dropped 2.2% as investors reacted to reduced U.S. demand. GSK plans to share more data with U.S. agencies.

British drugmaker GSK adjusted its forecast for 2024 vaccine sales downward on Wednesday, following underwhelming quarterly revenue from its shingles and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccines. This led to a 2.2% drop in shares.

CEO Emma Walmsley's strategy of focusing on infectious disease drugs has garnered results, despite GSK facing patent expirations and declining revenue from current best-sellers. However, Arexvy's second-quarter sales fell short of projections, pulling in 62 million pounds against an expected 70 million pounds. Similarly, the Shingrix vaccine posted disappointing sales figures of 832 million pounds.

Although GSK surpassed second-quarter expectations and lifted its full-year sales and profit outlook, investor concerns over U.S. demand led to the share price decline. Walmsley described the U.S. health agency's recent age recommendation adjustments as surprising and emphasized that GSK would provide additional data later this year.