sitefansalaran Industry News

British drugmaker GSK (GSK.L), opens new tab named insider Luke Miels as its CEO designate on Monday to succeed Emma Walmsley, who will step down after nine years in the role. Miels will be tasked with leading a new phase for the company and delivering GSK's sales target of more than 40 billion pounds ($53.78 billion) by 2031. He will assume full responsibilities as CEO on January 1. REMUNERATION: Miels' starting annual base salary will be 1.38 million pounds, below Walmsley's current salary, GSK said. Walmsley's 2025 salary is 1.43 million pounds, according to GSK's annual report. He will also receive an on-target yearly bonus of 150% and a long-term incentive grant 7.25 times his salary. WHO IS MIELS? Miels, 50, joined GSK as its chief commercial officer in 2017, managing its global medicines and vaccines portfolio, with annual sales topping 20 billion pounds across over 100 countries. The Australian national holds a biology degree from Flinders University and an MBA from Macquarie University in Australia. From his beginnings as a sales representative at AstraZeneca, he went on to assume senior roles at global pharmaceutical giants such as Sanofi and Roche. CAREER PATH: AstraZeneca * 1995 – 2000: Held various sales and marketing roles Sanofi-Aventis (SASY.PA), opens new tab * 2004 – 2006:...

British drugmaker GSK (GSK.L), opens new tab said on Monday Emma Walmsley will step down as CEO after nine years in the role and will be replaced by insider Luke Miels in January. Since taking over in 2017, Walmsley has returned GSK to growth, with a focus on cancer and infectious diseases to counter a combination of patent expiries and declining revenue from its best-selling medicines by 2030. "2026 is a pivotal year for GSK to define its path for the decade ahead, and I believe the right moment for new leadership," Walmsley said. Miels will be tasked with leading a new phase of the company and delivering GSK's sales target of more than 40 billion pounds ($53.76 billion) by 2031. Miels, 50, joined GSK in 2017 and is currently the drugmaker's chief commercial officer, overseeing the company's global medicines and vaccines portfolio. He will assume full responsibilities as chief executive on January 1. "He has outstanding global biopharma development and commercial experience, together with a deep understanding of the company," GSK Chairman Jonathan Symonds said in a statement. GSK's shares have fallen nearly 6% since Walmsley took over as CEO. Under her leadership, GSK also demerged consumer healthcare group Haleon (HLN.L), opens new tab...

Big Pharma's U.S. manufacturing investment pledges continue to pile up on the mainland and beyond. In the industry's latest nine-figure capital investment project, Amgen plans a $650 million expansion of its sprawling site in Juncos, Puerto Rico. The company, which boasts a multidecade history on the island, plans to create hundreds of new jobs with the Puerto Rico expansion, according to a Sept. 26 release. Amgen's expansion in Juncos will support increased drug production at the biologics site. Amgen first established its Juncos site in 1993 and has significantly expanded it along the way. A 30-year celebration of the site's history, posted on Amgen's website in 2022, shows that the manufacturing complex started with just one building and about 30 staffers. By 2022, the facility grew to more than 20 buildings with thousands of employees. In 2003, Amgen revealed plans to splash out $800 million for new plants, quality labs, packaging infrastructure and more in Juncos. In 2005, the company touted the facility as boasting 1 million square feet. Nowadays, Amgen's expansion plans coincide with the Trump administration's onshoring push for the pharmaceutical industry. In a Thursday evening post on the social media site Truth Social, President Donald Trump said that starting Oct....

-French drugmaker Sanofi said on Friday it would offer a month's supply of any of its insulin products for $35 to all patients in the U.S. with a valid prescription, regardless of insurance status. The program, originally meant for uninsured diabetes patients, would now include those with commercial insurance or Medicare, the drugmaker said. Global drugmakers have ramped up efforts, such as direct-to-consumer programs, to lower U.S. drug prices as President Donald Trump presses them to align the cost of their medicines with what other comparable high-income countries pay. "Our announcement builds on an idea first championed by President Trump to lower costs for American patients at the pharmacy counter," said Adam Gluck, head of U.S. Corporate Affairs, Sanofi. Patients will be able to purchase any combination, type, and quantity of Sanofi insulins with a valid prescription for the fixed monthly price of $35, starting January 1. Sanofi is one of the three largest insulin makers with Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly. Lilly and Novo also have similar programs through which they offer insulin products for $35 a month for U.S. patients regardless of whether the patients have insurance. An estimated 8.4 million people with diabetes in the United States rely on insulin to survive, according...

Bristol Myers Squibb (BMY.N), opens new tab said on Thursday it will sell its psoriasis drug Sotyktu directly to cash-paying U.S. patients at a more than 80% discount to its list price amid pressure from the Trump administration. President Donald Trump has been pressuring drugmakers to lower the cost of medicines, demanding that they align domestic prices with the lowest levels paid by comparable high-income countries under the "most-favored-nation" policy. The program would cut Sotyktu's monthly cost to $950, or about 86% discount to the current list price of $6,828, the company said. Bristol will start selling the drug through its new direct-to-patient platform BMS Patient Connect from January, the drugmaker said. The program, which would bypass traditional pharmacy benefit managers and insurers, targets a small percentage of patients on Sotyktu who are uninsured or underinsured. Sotyktu is approved to treat moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis in adults. Bristol and partner Pfizer (PFE.N), opens new tab also sell their blockbuster blood thinner, Eliquis, directly to cash-paying patients at a more than 40% discount to its list price.

Eli Lilly (LLY.N), opens new tab plans to launch its experimental oral weight-loss drug orforglipron in India, a senior executive said on Thursday, offering an alternative to injectables that many patients in the world's most populous nation resist. Orforglipron is part of a new class of GLP-1 drugs that suppress appetite and follow the same pathway targeted by Eli Lilly's blockbuster tirzepatide, sold globally as the blockbuster Mounjaro for diabetes and Zepbound for weight loss. Keep up with the latest medical breakthroughs and healthcare trends with the Reuters Health Rounds newsletter. Sign up here. The drug has not been launched anywhere globally but Lilly plans to file, opens new tab for approval of orforglipron with regulators in the United States, Britain, European Union, Japan and China. It was not immediately clear if the drugmaker has started approval procedure for orforglipron in India. Latest trial data showed Eli Lilly's experimental pill orforglipron lowered blood sugar and weight more effectively than Novo Nordisk's (NOVOb.CO), opens new tab older GLP-1 drug Rybelsus in adults with type-2 diabetes. "There is promise for products like that in India, if it gets approved," Winselow Tucker, Lilly India's president, said, speaking at an industry conference panel in Mumbai. He did not give...

Ionis Pharmaceuticals' experimental drug improved walking ability in patients with a rare progressive and often fatal neurological condition, the company said on Monday, meeting the main goal in an early-to-late-stage study. Shares of the company were up about 3% in premarket trading. In the 54-patient study, those who received the 50 mg dose of zilganersen showed a statistically significant improvement in gait speed as assessed by a 10-meter walk test, an assessment of functional mobility, at 61 weeks. Ionis was testing the drug in patients with Alexander disease, a disorder that damages brain cells and causes problems with movement, speech, and swallowing, often starting in early childhood. According to National Institutes of Health, the condition affects fewer than 1,000 people in the United States and has no approved treatments. Zilganersen works by blocking the production of a harmful brain protein, GFAP, which builds up abnormally in the brain due to a genetic mutation and contributes to the disease. The clinical results are a "monumental step forward in advancing a potential treatment for Alexander disease," said Ionis CEO Brett Monia. Ionis plans to submit a marketing application to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in the first quarter of 2026. The full results from the study will be...

UniQure’s experimental gene therapy for Huntington’s disease slowed progression of the brain disorder by 75% in an early-to-mid stage study, it said on Wednesday. Shares of the company more than tripled in midday trading, skyrocketing 250%. Huntington’s is a rare inherited brain disorder, which steadily worsens and typically leads to death 10 to 30 years after symptoms begin. There are no FDA-approved treatments for the condition. UniQure’s therapy, called AMT-130, reduced disease progression by 75% at 36 months in patients who received a high dose, based on a widely used clinical scale. It also slowed decline of functional abilities in patients by 60%, a key secondary goal of the trial. “These groundbreaking data are the most convincing in the field to date and underscore potential disease-modifying effects in Huntington’s disease, where an urgent need persists,” said Sarah Tabrizi, director of the University College London’s Huntington’s Disease Center. AMT-130 was generally well-tolerated, with no new serious side effects reported since late 2022, the company said. UniQure plans to submit a marketing application to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in early 2026, with hopes of launching the therapy later that year if approved. About 41,000 people in the U.S. are living with the disease, and more than 200,000...

Celltrion Inc. (068270.KS), opens new tab said in a regulatory filing in South Korea on Tuesday its U.S. subsidiary has acquired Imclone Systems LLC from Eli Lilly in the United States for $330 million. In a statement, Celltrion said it aimed to complete the factory acquisition process by year-end in cooperation with its partner. After upgrades and expansions to the facility, both key products the company sells in the United States and future launches will be shielded early from U.S. tariff exposure.

India's Fortis Healthcare plans to open more dedicated obesity clinics across its hospitals to meet surging demand for weight-loss drugs and therapies in the world's most populous nation, its CEO told Reuters. The India launch of popular weight-loss drugs such as Eli Lilly's Mounjaro and Novo Nordisk's Wegovy this year has heightened patient awareness in the nation projected to have the world's second-largest population of obese people by 2050. Mounjaro and Wegvoy's sales doubled in months after launch, earlier this year. "We are witnessing a sharp rise in patient interest and demand for structured guidance on weight management and newer obesity-related therapies," Fortis Managing Director and Chief Executive, Ashutosh Raghuvanshi, said in an interview earlier this month. Fortis, partly owned by Malaysia's IHH Healthcare, operates 28 hospitals and manages Gleneagles facilities in India. It has already commissioned five obesity clinics in Delhi, Gurgaon, Mumbai and Bengaluru and plans to set up 13 more clinics across the Fortis network in the states of Punjab, Rajasthan, Karnataka, Maharashtra, West Bengal, and Haryana, within a year. The company, which administers weight-loss drugs at its hospitals, said its obesity clinics will feature endocrinologists, weight-loss surgeons, nutritionists, dieticians, and psychologists to tailor programs based on patients' requirements. The Indian obesity drug...