Trials are bread and butter for GSK, but proving to the market that it deserves a higher price is shaping up to be a harder test. A costly legal battle over claims that Zantac, the company’s old heartburn drug, caused cancer has set back the rehabilitation of the shares. More fundamentally? Historic under-investment in research and development has stoked market concerns that the FTSE 100 Big Pharma player will be exposed to a steep fall in revenues as patents expire.
Disproving the latter should start to become easier. GSK has come strong out of the gates this year, which bodes well for cash generation and its ability to support firepower for R&D and deals.
Strip out Covid-related treatments and organic sales were up 10 per
