GSK has scrapped a phase 2 human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine from its pipeline after deciding the asset wouldn’t have best-in-class potential.
The British Big Pharma—which still markets the HPV vaccine Cervarix in various countries—announced the decision to remove an adjuvanted recombinant protein vaccine for the viral infection, dubbed GSK4106647, from its phase 2 pipeline as part of second-quarter earnings results (PDF).
On a call with journalists this morning, CEO Emma Walmsley told Fierce Biotech that while GSK is still “keeping an eye on the opportunity in HPV, for sure,” the company has decided it doesn’t want to pursue GSK4106647 further.
“One of the most important things you can do when developing a pipeline is focus on the big bets of new and differentiated assets,” Walmsley said. “And part of that means switching off things where we don’t think we can necessarily cut through with something that can be a best in class.”
When it comes to GSK’s vaccines portfolio more generally, the company is “doubling down both on mRNA and on our new MAPS technology,” the CEO added. Earlier this month, the Big Pharma paid CureVac $430 million for the full rights to the mRNA specialist’s flu and COVID vaccines.
“The key point is: Can you bring something that’s new and different and better, where there’s material unmet need, and we can demonstrate differentiated value,” she added.
GSK still markets the recombinant HPV vaccine Cervarix in various countries around the world. Despite pulling the vaccine from the U.S. in 2016 due to low demand, the company still saw £120 million ($154 million) in global revenue for the shot in 2023.
One other drug was removed from GSK’s pipeline this morning: a proteasome inhibitor for a tropical disease called visceral leishmaniasis. Walmsley stressed on the same call that GSK has a “long-term commitment to neglected tropical diseases,” but said the decision to end work on this specific asset was a result of “the discipline of betting where we can win.”