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GSK in Transition: Perfect, It’s Chinese Innovative Drugs

May 15,2026

UK pharmaceutical giant GSK is ramping up its efforts.

“Mo-Rez has delivered compelling evidence,” revealed Hesham Abdullah, Head of Oncology at GSK Global R&D. “We plan to initiate five global pivotal Phase III clinical trials later this year for ovarian and endometrial cancers, including earlier lines of treatment.”

Recently, this B7-H4 ADC licensed from Hansoh Pharma unveiled Phase I clinical data from the global BEHOLD-1 trial. In ovarian and endometrial cancer patients, Mo-Rez achieved an objective response rate (ORR) of 62% and 67% respectively, exceeding the average level of most investigational ADCs.

A potential blockbuster asset is well on its way to maturation — a highly encouraging signal both for GSK, which is targeting annual revenue of £40 billion, and for Luke Miels, who has just taken office as the company’s new leader.

In January this year, 51-year-old Miels officially succeeded Emma Walmsley as CEO. The leadership handover proceeded smoothly, yet the new chief faces formidable challenges: GSK must prove its ability to launch commercially successful new drugs, deliver on its ambitious growth targets, and regain the confidence of secondary market investors.

Amid this transformation drive, Chinese innovative drugs have clearly been placed at the core strategic position. Looking at GSK’s layout over the past few years, aside from Mo-Rez, a string of strategic transactions have centered on Chinese pharmaceutical assets.

Prior to his promotion to CEO, Miels had served as GSK’s Chief Business Officer (CBO) since 2017. Given this background, GSK’s new era is highly likely to deepen its engagement with innovation markets represented by China. In a sense, the era of Chinese innovative drugs stepping up to fill the industry gap is arriving at an accelerated pace.

01、ADC Gains Explosive Momentum

Let’s first review Mo-Rez’s impressive clinical performance.

At the 2026 Society of Gynecologic Oncology Annual Meeting, GSK presented findings from the BEHOLD-1 study. In patients with platinum-resistant ovarian cancer, the confirmed ORR reached 62% in the highest 5.8 mg/kg dose cohort, with tumor shrinkage observed in 21 patients. For recurrent or advanced endometrial cancer, the confirmed ORR was even higher at 67% in the 4.8 mg/kg dose group.

Notably, many approved anti-cancer drugs secure authorization based on low-to-moderate ORR levels. According to a retrospective analysis published in JAMA Internal Medicine, the median ORR of the 85 anti-cancer agents approved by the FDA between 2006 and 2018 stood at merely 41%.

Against this backdrop, Mo-Rez’s response rates of 62% and 67% stand out remarkably.

Equally noteworthy is the rapid onset of therapeutic response. Trial data showed the median time to response was only 1.4 months, meaning tumors began to shrink as early as within the first month of treatment.

Furthermore, B7-H4 is highly expressed in ovarian and endometrial cancers — the target was detectable on tumor cells in over 95% of enrolled BEHOLD-1 trial patients, paving the way for broad clinical application of this ADC candidate.

Mo-Rez also demonstrated a favorable safety profile. The rate of treatment discontinuation due to adverse events was extremely low: 0% in the ovarian cancer cohort and 4% in the endometrial cancer cohort. The overall incidence of interstitial lung disease was only 3%, all cases being mild to moderate — a critical safety benchmark for ADC therapies.

The robust Phase I data has greatly boosted GSK’s confidence. The pharmaceutical giant has announced it will launch five global Phase III clinical trials in 2026, covering multiple treatment lines for ovarian and endometrial cancers, including earlier clinical settings such as first-line maintenance therapy and second-line treatment.

This marks the first time in GSK’s history that an ADC candidate in gynecologic oncology has advanced directly from Phase I to large-scale Phase III development.

As Abdullah noted, gynecologic cancers remain a major unmet medical need with significant treatment challenges. From GSK’s strategic perspective, the company is also aiming to seize a first-mover advantage in this field.

To date, no B7-H4 ADC has gained global approval, and only a handful of candidates have entered clinical development. Beyond Mo-Rez, the main competitors include AstraZeneca’s ADZ8205, Seagen’s SGN-B7H4V and Mersana’s XMT-1660, all of which remain in early-to-mid stage clinical development.

Hansoh Pharma has initiated Phase III clinical trials for Mo-Rez in China. Fueled by support from the multinational pharmaceutical company, Mo-Rez’s advancement into global Phase III development will set the trend for the B7-H4 ADC niche track. For GSK, this deal is entirely worthwhile at the very least in strategic reputation and market positioning.

In October 2023, GSK acquired the global development and commercialization rights for Mo-Rez outside Greater China from Hansoh Pharma, with an upfront payment of $85 million and potential milestone payments of up to $1.485 billion. The two parties also agreed on tiered royalties based on global net sales after product commercialization.

Current clinical data has validated the strategic rationale behind this deal and proven the genuine high value of Chinese innovative drug molecules.

GSK’s bet on Hansoh Pharma extends far beyond this single collaboration. Just two months after licensing Mo-Rez, in December 2023, GSK secured another investigational ADC candidate from Hansoh Pharma targeting the tumor immunotherapy biomarker B7-H3, with an upfront payment of $185 million and milestone payments capped at $1.525 billion.

According to previously released Phase I clinical data, this B7-H3 ADC, codenamed GSK'227, achieved an overall response rate (ORR) of 30% and a disease control rate (DCR) of 86.0%, with a median progression-free survival (mPFS) of 5.4 months in patients with advanced solid tumors. Among small cell lung cancer participants, the ORR reached 63.6%, with an mPFS of 4.7 months.

Evidently, sourcing high-quality ADC assets from China has become a key strategic pathway for GSK’s oncology business layout.

02、GSK’s Return to Oncology

The underlying reason behind GSK’s successive bets on Chinese early-stage pipeline assets and its urgency to advance Mo-Rez into Phase III trials lies in a strong fear of missing out (FOMO) — GSK missed out on the oncology market for years.

In April 2014, GSK struck a major asset swap deal with Novartis.

Novartis announced it would acquire GSK’s oncology business for $14.5 billion, with an additional $1.5 billion contingent payment tied to a melanoma drug trial. In return, GSK took over Novartis’ vaccine business excluding influenza vaccines, valued at $5.25 billion, plus potential staged payments of up to $1.8 billion and ongoing royalty fees.

The oncology therapeutics market is fiercely competitive. Some analysts once commented that GSK made a sound decision to exit a business where it only ranked 14th globally.

Andrew Witty, then CEO of GSK, argued that the company lacked competitive scale in oncology, making it a prudent move to transfer the business to a global industry leader. He also stated that the transaction strengthened GSK’s two core pillars: vaccines and consumer healthcare.

Following Emma Walmsley’s appointment as CEO in April 2017, GSK reshaped its pharmaceutical portfolio once again. Oncology was elevated to one of its four core therapeutic areas, alongside respiratory diseases, HIV, and immunology and inflammation.

By the end of 2017, GSK made a high-profile return to the oncology track on the news that its BCMA CAR‑T therapy had entered Phase II clinical development. Regrettably, despite bold reforms, a large corporate vessel is always slow to change course.

Under Walmsley’s leadership, sales of GSK’s bet on the PD‑1 antibody Jemperli and PARP inhibitor Zejula once fell short of expectations. Blenrep, the world’s first BCMA ADC granted accelerated approval by the FDA in 2020, failed to meet the primary endpoint of its confirmatory trial in November 2022, triggering a swift delisting procedure only 15 days later.

Blenrep did not re-enter the U.S. market until October 2025. Nevertheless, the persistence behind this setback has gradually driven fundamental changes across the company.

In an interview, Abdullah said with palpable pride that GSK had no commercial oncology products four years ago — a claim that may sound exaggerated, given that both Zejula and Jemperli actually posted double-digit sales growth in 2022. Today, GSK boasts four approved oncology assets, with another 13 candidates in clinical development.

Financial performance in 2025 stands as the best testimony to this transformation.

In the reporting period, GSK posted total revenue of £32.667 billion, with specialty pharmaceuticals generating £13.5 billion and serving as the undisputed engine of growth. Oncology delivered the strongest performance of all business divisions, with annual sales hitting £2.0 billion, a year-on-year increase of 43% — the fastest growth among GSK’s four core therapeutic areas.

Even so, oncology still has a long way to go before becoming GSK’s largest revenue pillar. HIV medicines recorded sales of £7.7 billion, while respiratory and immunology/inflammation products brought in £3.8 billion.

In addition, vaccines remain a major revenue pillar for GSK, notching £9.2 billion in sales in 2025. Shingrix, its shingles vaccine, contributed £3.6 billion, and meningitis vaccines generated £1.6 billion.

According to Financial Times, GSK’s share price surged around 70% over the past year, lifting its market capitalization to approximately £74 billion. Even so, it remains smaller in scale than its UK peer AstraZeneca, underscoring that GSK’s transformation is far from complete.

03、Targeting £40 Billion Revenue

In July 2022, when GSK spun off its consumer healthcare division into the independently listed Haleon, Walmsley reaffirmed the long-term targets she had unveiled one year earlier.

Walmsley stated that the restructuring would not only fully unlock the value of the consumer healthcare business but also give rise to a new pure-play pharmaceutical GSK. She believed strategic focus would drive GSK’s revenue to £33 billion by 2031 — equivalent to 40 billion US dollars.

Perhaps beyond Walmsley’s expectations, the 2031 revenue benchmark was soon revised upward. In February 2025, following stronger-than-expected financial results, GSK raised its target annual sales from £38 billion to £40 billion.

In her final quarterly earnings release as CEO, Walmsley explicitly stated that the £40 billion target was achievable, and Luke Miels has publicly voiced his full support for the goal.

There is no lack of skepticism from outside observers. GSK posted revenue of £32.667 billion in 2025, meaning it needs to achieve cumulative annual revenue growth of over £7 billion in the following six years. Yet the market’s consensus sales forecast for the company in 2031 stands at only £35 billion.

Analysts commented that GSK’s new target “turns an already implausible figure of £38 billion into something even more unbelievable.”

To hit the £40 billion revenue target, GSK’s biggest challenge lies in an impending patent cliff. The patent for dolutegravir, the core molecule of its HIV business, will expire as early as 2027. Four related drugs — Tivicay, Triumeq, Juluca and Dovato — generated combined revenue of £7.687 billion in 2025, accounting for over 23% of GSK’s total revenue.

GSK must find new growth drivers to fill this gap, and deal-making is evidently the most straightforward approach. In fact, the pharmaceutical giant has already accelerated its pace over the past year.

In January 2025, GSK acquired IDRx for up to $1.15 billion, gaining access to IDRX-42, a candidate for gastrointestinal stromal tumors. The drug targets all key KIT mutation types uncovered by current therapies and is poised to become a best-in-class blockbuster.

In May the same year, GSK purchased efimosfermin alfa, a Phase III candidate for metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH), from Boston Pharmaceuticals for up to $2 billion. Once approved, it is set to become a major player in liver disease treatment.

In October, GSK announced a global exclusive licensing deal with Empirico for EMP-012, a Phase I siRNA therapy for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), with a total transaction value of up to $745 million.

January 2026 marked the start of Luke Miels’ tenure as CEO, bringing an even faster and more diversified pace of transactions.

Early in the month, GSK signed a multi-year agreement with genomics firm Helix to advance precision medicine R&D. On the same day, it entered a five-year, $50 million collaboration with AI-native biotech company Noetik to develop cancer therapies leveraging machine learning (ML).

Later that month, GSK spent $2.2 billion to acquire RAPT Therapeutics, securing ozureprubart, a Phase IIb antibody candidate for food allergy prevention, with key clinical data expected in 2027. On the same day, it sealed a $285 million partnership with Alteogen to develop a subcutaneous formulation of its PD-1 monoclonal antibody Jemperli.

In the following February, 35Pharma was fully acquired by GSK for $950 million in cash, transferring its pulmonary arterial hypertension candidate HS235 into GSK’s pipeline.

During the 2026 JPM Healthcare Conference, Tony Wood, Chief Scientific Officer of GSK, stated that with 15 new drugs set to launch in the coming years, each is projected to peak at over $2 billion in annual sales.

04、China: The Antidote to Growth

Even so, any full picture of GSK’s transaction strategy is missing a crucial piece — Chinese pharmaceutical assets.

GSK’s interest in Chinese innovative drugs extends far beyond Hansoh Pharma, the originator of Mo-Rez and GSK’227. Two years later, Hengrui Medicine, chaired by Sun Piaoyang — husband of Hansoh Pharma founder Zhong Huijuan — also joined GSK’s strategic partner ecosystem.

In July 2025, GSK entered a landmark strategic cooperation with Hengrui Medicine worth up to $12 billion. GSK paid a $500 million upfront payment to secure global rights to HRS-9821, plus exclusive global option rights to up to 11 additional pipeline projects.

HRS-9821 is a potential best-in-class PDE3/4 inhibitor currently in clinical development for COPD. In the PDE3/4 inhibitor space, Ohtuvayre, approved in June 2024, remains the only marketed product. SeekingAlpha forecasts Ohtuvayre’s peak annual sales at $2.1 billion to $3.6 billion.

Merck & Co. recognized the immense growth potential of this class by acquiring developer Verona Pharma for approximately $10 billion in July 2025, underscoring the massive market opportunity ahead.

The landmark $12 billion deal with Hengrui Medicine not only catapults GSK into the PDE3/4 inhibitor arena but also grants it rights to a portfolio of additional pipeline candidates. According to the official announcement, these rigorously screened projects are designed to expand GSK’s existing R&D footprint across respiratory diseases, autoimmune and inflammatory disorders, and oncology. All assets have been evaluated to possess best-in-class or first-in-class potential.

A closer look at the underlying asset relationships reveals that GSK’s broader ties with Hengrui Medicine stretch back even further.

In January 2024, GSK acquired Aiolos Bio (formerly One Bio) via a $1 billion upfront payment plus up to $400 million in milestone payments. The biotech’s sole pipeline asset was SHR-1905, a TSLP monoclonal antibody licensed from Hengrui Medicine in August 2023 and later renamed AIO-001.

Upon news of the acquisition, widespread discussions emerged over middlemen reaping huge markups on Chinese innovative drugs. One Bio had paid merely a $25 million upfront payment plus near-term milestones, yet the asset was valued at a 40-fold premium within half a year.

Interestingly, this was not the only such instance for GSK.

A similar scenario repeated itself when GSK bought RAPT Therapeutics. In December 2024, Jiyu Pharma licensed the overseas rights to ozureprubart to RAPT for a $35 million upfront payment. Barely over a year later, in January 2026, GSK acquired RAPT for **$2.2 billion**.

For GSK, however, strengthening direct partnerships with Chinese pharmaceutical firms can gradually eliminate such costly indirect markups.

In November 2025, GSK entered a collaboration with Zean Biotech to advance novel myeloid cell engager (MCE) programs, covering four potential first-in-class MCE therapies for hematological malignancies and solid tumors. GSK committed a $50 million upfront payment, plus milestones across preclinical, clinical, regulatory and commercial stages, as well as tiered royalties on global net sales of any launched products.

In February 2026, GSK in-licensed two early-stage siRNA pipeline assets from Frontage Biotech. The deal included a $40 million upfront payment, $13 million in near-term milestones, up to $950 million in additional future milestones, and tiered royalties on global net sales.

In May 2026, Shi’an Biotech announced the out-licensing of global rights outside Greater China for its ALK7 siRNA candidate SA030 to GSK. The total deal value reaches up to $1.005 billion, plus tiered revenue sharing. The asset has already progressed into Phase I clinical trials.

Overall, GSK’s interest in Chinese assets spans the full spectrum: from mature drug modalities such as small molecules and monoclonal antibodies, to cutting-edge emerging platforms including ADCs, MCEs and siRNAs. The therapeutic scope aligns perfectly with GSK’s core priorities in oncology, respiratory diseases, infectious diseases and beyond.

— Epilogue —

The global pharmaceutical industry is growing increasingly reliant on Chinese innovation assets.

In 2025, out-licensing deals for Chinese domestic innovative drugs hit a record high of $135.655 billion across 157 transactions. The momentum has carried strongly into 2026, with upfront payment scales for outbound licensing already surpassing the highest quarterly level recorded in 2025.

Liu Bowei, Vice Chairman of JPMorgan Asia Pacific Healthcare Investment Banking, commented in media interviews:

“The ultimate balance of cost efficiency and clinical value has become the core rationale for multinational pharmaceutical companies to regard China as a prime source of R&D pipeline assets.”

For GSK, China serves both as an innovation arsenal to replenish its pipeline and a testing ground to validate its transformation strategy.

The early clinical success of Mo-Rez has already vindicated GSK’s strategic judgment. Meanwhile, the outcomes of its broader bets on Hengrui Medicine and other Chinese biopharma firms will largely determine whether the UK pharma giant can achieve and surpass its £40 billion annual revenue target by 2031 and beyond.

参考资料：

1.GSK presents positive data for B7-H4-targeted ADC in gynaecological cancers

2.Cancer drug licensed by GSK from China posts promising trial results

3.Can GSK turn its drug pipeline into growth under Luke Miels?

4.翰森制药与葛兰素史克宣布就新型妇科癌症ADC药物在中国以外地区的开发和商业化达成独家许可协议

5.2023 ASCO | 翰森制药B7-H3 ADC、c-MET TKI等研究成果亮相，临床潜力获国际权威认可

6.翰森制药(03692.HK)首次覆盖：中国龙头创新药企，国际化能力持续提升

7.焦点：诺华与葛兰素史克达成资产互换协议规模逾200亿美元

8.“抗肿瘤巨头”GSK，从拯救首款BCMA ADC开始？

9.GSK delivers strong 2025 performance and re-affirms long-term outlooks

10.Biotech向左，MNC向右：2022下半年，五大值得关注的药物交易

11.Big Pharma好日子结束，Big Biotech时代对投资者意味着什么?