GSK reported rising profits in the final quarter of 2025 but warned that sales growth would slow next year as the drugmaker navigates patent expiries for its top-selling HIV drugs and uncertainty in its vaccines business. New chief executive Luke Miels, who took over in January, presented his first outlook, saying the current year would be a key period of execution.
The British company said revenue grew 7 per cent in 2025 to £32.67 billion, surpassing expectations of £32.54 billion. For the three months to December 31, sales rose 8 per cent to £8.62 billion and core earnings per share reached 25.5 pence. However, GSK expects sales growth of just 3 to 5 per cent in 2026 at constant currency rates.
The slowdown reflects challenges as GSK expands its pipeline to counter patent expiries starting in 2028 for its HIV drugs. The vaccines business and general medicines unit are expected to see sales decline by a low single digit or remain stable, while specialty medicines should achieve low double-digit growth. US vaccine policy uncertainty is likely to persist into 2026.
Miels said the company was well placed for its next phase and reiterated its goal of more than £40 billion in sales by 2031. GSK last month offered $2.2 billion for RAPT Therapeutics to acquire an experimental food allergy drug and won regulatory approvals for five treatments in 2025.
