Earnings

GSK CEO Vows Not To 'Park Crap On Page 41' Of A Press Release

Luke Miels told analysts GSK will flag problems openly, as questions on HIV injectables dominated the third-quarter call.

GSK will call problems as it sees them, CEO Luke Miels told analysts on the drugmaker's third-quarter earnings call Wednesday, promising it won't bury bad news "on page 41 of a press release and hope none of you notice it." He made the pledge while answering a Barclays analyst's questions about turnover in the company's HIV business.

A pledge to flag problems

Asked by the Barclays analyst whether a string of HIV management changes amounted to a reboot, Miels said there was no connection. He said one executive had been promoted to become CEO of CSL, and that GSK filled the post quickly.

He then widened the answer to how GSK wants to talk to its owners. "We're going to call things as we see them and we're not going to park crap on page 41 of a press release and hope none of you notice it," Miels said. GSK will tell analysts as much as it can and have a plan to address problems, he said, and he asked them to "adjust your parameters on that because that's how we want to operate."

On HIV, Miels said he wants the business to be closer to him, so there will be "more intensive interaction and supervision there, but that's not a bad thing."

The injectable question

The sharpest questions concerned a monthly HIV prevention injectable. The Barclays analyst asked whether work still underway on the drug's pharmacokinetics, meaning how the body absorbs it, could delay the launch. David Redfern, GSK's President of Corporate Development, said the company will update the market once its analysis is complete.

Redfern said GSK is confident it will share the data with regulators before the end of the year. He separated the prevention study from a treatment study of the four-monthly formulation, calling them very different studies. Miels said repeatedly there is no read-across, and that GSK does not want to front-run discussions with a regulator.

Quarter and guidance

Miels said sales rose 5% to £8.9 billion in the quarter, core operating profit grew 5% and core earnings per share rose 1%. GSK reconfirmed its 2026 guidance, and Chief Financial Officer Julie Brown said sales and core operating profit are expected in the upper half of their ranges.

Brown said GSK now expects 22 phase three trial starts in 2026, more than double the 10 it planned at the start of the year, and R&D grew 22% in the quarter. She said Accelerate Growth restructuring charges are now expected to reach up to £1 billion in 2026.

GSK says it will update the market once its analysis of the monthly HIV prevention injectable data is finished, and that regulators will see the data before year-end.