GSK has announced an agreement with China’s largest vaccine firm, Zhifei, by revenue, to increase global sales of its shingles vaccine by 2026.
According to the Financial Times, the UK-based pharmaceutical company said Zhifei had agreed to acquire £2.5 billion worth of GSK’s blockbuster shot, Shingrix, which is targeted at older individuals, over three years.
If GSK’s respiratory syncytial virus vaccine is accepted by Chinese regulators, Zhifei has the option to distribute it as well. The US, EU, and UK regulatory bodies have given Arexy their approval.
The cooperation, according to GSK’s chief commercial officer Luke Miels, significantly increases the number of Chinese adults who will benefit from Shingrix. In China, there will be 570 million adults over the age of 50 by 2030, yet as of June 2023, only approximately 1.2% of them have received the shingles vaccine.
This collaboration, he said, “is consistent with our focus on products with a high and durable level of differentiation.”
The deal, which will enable GSK to increase access to the vaccine from 9,000 to 30,000 vaccination sites, is the first of its type in China. Zhifei already collaborates with US Merck, also known as MSD outside of the US, to sell MSD vaccines in the country for billions of dollars.
Large pharmaceutical companies hope to swiftly expand in China, targeting an aging population plagued by an increasing load of chronic diseases.
The Chinese government has sped up the approval of novel pharmaceutical goods while simultaneously increasing pressure on the cost of the more well-known medications.
Unlike GSK, which has had to negotiate a more difficult path following a corruption scandal in 2015, AstraZeneca has created its brand in China and has a sizable unit with deep roots outside of Beijing and Shanghai.
On Monday, the business opted not to comment.
GSK plans to sell twice as much Shingrix by the year 2026, reaching more than £4 billion. The shot is intended to prevent the painful illness known as shingles, a painful condition that is caused by the same virus that causes chickenpox.
The illness is more likely to emerge as people get older because their immune systems weaken.
The vaccine showed 100% efficacy in a recent study of Chinese adults over 50; none of the participants who received the shot went on to acquire the condition.
