Latest news with #Arexvy
Yahoo
7 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Queens of influence: Meet the women shaping Europe's future
Just a few months into 2025, it became clear that the year would be unlike any other in recent memory, because of tariffs imposed by the Trump administration. European Central Bank chief Christine Lagarde characterized the uncertainty as 'high and rising.' Companies have acknowledged that what lies ahead will be impossible to predict. Among those faced with the changing world order are some of the Most Powerful Women in business. Now in its 28th year, the annual ranking recognizes 100 women leading major global companies. This year, 21 listees are at the helm of European companies. Whether running some of the world's biggest fashion houses or energy companies, they embody Europe's female leadership power. 21 That also means the ever-shifting tariff crisis affects some of their businesses directly or indirectly. For instance, British pharma giant GSK makes 50% of its revenue from the U.S. GSK is 'a global company, and pharma supply chains are complex … so we have options to mitigate what may come,' Emma Walmsley, GSK's CEO, tells Fortune. 'It's not wrong to say being a CEO is a lonely job, but it's a lot less lonely when you work alongside extraordinary people.' MPW leaders tell Fortune that the onus of navigating a nebulous world will not just fall on the top tier. It will need collective intelligence and synchrony from different experts and geographies. 'It's not wrong to say being a CEO is a lonely job, but it's a lot less lonely when you work alongside extraordinary people.' 'I don't claim to know everything or have all the answers,' notes Belén Garijo, CEO of German giant Merck Group. But the company of 62,000 people in life science, health care, and tech always plans for various scenarios. 'It's never just about me. One of my key leadership principles is to surround myself with smart, capable people,' Garijo says. CEOGSK — U.K. Walmsley, one of pharma's most powerful bosses, is entering the ninth year of her ambitious turnaround mission at GSK, driving the company forward in discoveries related to cancer and antimicrobial resistance, while doubling down on AI. Walmsley started her career at L'Oréal. She worked for the French cosmetic company for 17 years, holding various general management and marketing roles in Paris, London, and New York. In 2010 she joined GSK as president of Consumer Healthcare Europe, and took over as CEO in 2017. A turning point for Walmsley during her career at GSK was the breakthrough of Arexvy, the world's first RSV vaccine, which generated $1.6 billion in sales in its first year after launching in the third quarter of 2023. The vaccine was a triumph for the pharma company after it failed to develop a COVID jab. In 2024, GSK doubled sales of its cancer treatments, taking total company revenue to $41.7 billion. GSK is currently exploring technological advancements aimed at leveraging AI to hasten drug discovery. Walmsley is an independent director at Microsoft. Her pay packet rose to $13.3 million as reward for her company's top-line growth. President and CEO Vattenfall — Sweden Borg leads one of the largest European energy companies, with 21,000 employees across the continent. Vattenfall is now collaborating with Swedish industry to double fossil-free electricity production in the coming decades. Borg's company has also committed to invest $17 billion over the next five years in projects like Dutch offshore wind farms. Vattenfall aims to reach net-zero across its entire emissions chain by 2040. Chair of Executive Board and CEOMerck KGaA — Germany A doctor by training, Garijo entered the pharmaceutical business, eventually heading up the integration of biotech Genzyme into parent Sanofi-Aventis. In 2011 she joined the health care arm of Germany's Merck KGaA, turning the business around and realigning its portfolio to focus on oncology and immunology. This year, her fifth as president and CEO of a company with 63,000 employees, saw Garijo signing a $3.9 billion deal to acquire SpringWorks Therapeutics. Group CEO Vodafone — U.K. Della Valle took Vodafone's helm in 2023, making her the first female chief in the history of the British telecommunications company. Della Valle, who has spent three decades at Vodafone (most recently as its CFO), is tasked with boosting profits and reversing its share price slump. As part of her turnaround plan, she has sold off Vodafone's Spanish and Italian arms for €5 billion and €8 billion, respectively. Her next move includes a $15 billion merger in the U.K. with Three this year, set to form Britain's largest mobile network once completed—and appears to have paused the nosedive in Vodafone's shares. CEO BT Group — U.K. In early 2024, Kirkby became the first woman to helm BT Group, the U.K. telecoms giant, bringing decades of consumer and telecom savvy into one of the most scrutinized boardrooms in British business. A former Procter & Gamble executive, Kirkby made her mark turning around Sweden's Telia and Denmark's TDC, and she's now steering BT through its most aggressive modernization push yet. At the core of her plan: a $20 billion rollout to deliver full-fiber broadband to 25 million U.K. homes by 2026, and a radical overhaul of BT's structure, with up to 55,000 roles set to be cut by the decade's end. BT has also announced plans to separate its international operations into a new stand-alone unit, as Kirkby continues to explore the possible scale of the telecom group's non-U.K. business. Investors have taken note—shares climbed after years of stagnation, as Kirkby pivoted away from BT's global distractions to refocus on domestic dominance. Kirkby has emphasized the importance of AI, and is not just making the business faster; she's pushing for a more inclusive telecoms future as Britain grapples with digital inequality and aging infrastructure. Amid an industry reckoning on diversity, Kirkby has doubled down on BT's DEI commitments. Chairwoman and CEO Sodexo — France Bellon manages a food and beverage business that caters to 80 million people every day—including the hungry fans at New Orleans' Superdome during the 2025 Super Bowl. The second-generation French businesswoman started her career in finance, working for Crédit Lyonnais in New York as an advisor for mergers and acquisitions. She then worked as an agent for luxury brands such as Armani, Chanel, and Ungaro. Bellon took over as chair and then CEO of the 23.8-billion-euro business after the 2022 death of her father, Sodexo founder Pierre Bellon. She remains committed to his philosophy of 'preserving the advantages of a large company without losing the benefits of a small one.' Bellon has spun off non-core businesses like employee benefits platform Pluxee, in 2024, to focus on her ambition of turning Sodexo into the leader in sustainable food catering, with vegetarian sausages and ingredients sourced from local hydroponic farms. Under Bellon's leadership, Sodexo is also making significant strides in developing its food brands, such as Modern Recipe and Kitchen Works, which aim to deliver diverse, modern, and high-quality tailored dining experiences that fulfill evolving consumer preferences. This article appears in the June/July 2025 issue of Fortune with the headline 'Spotlight: Europe's Most Powerful Women'. This story was originally featured on Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
RTÉ News
30-04-2025
- Business
- RTÉ News
GSK 'well positioned' for potential tariffs after beating forecasts
Drugmaker GSK has today reaffirmed its outlook for 2025 and said it was "well positioned" to mitigate any hit from potential sector-specific tariffs, after first quarter results beat expectations. Companies globally are scrambling to adapt to levies proposed by US President Donald Trump in his trade war, and Trump's plans for a "major" tariff on pharmaceutical imports could threaten an interwoven global supply chain, and raise US drug costs by $51 billion annually, a report found. GSK said it had identified options within its supply chain and productivity initiatives to mitigate any hit from possible pharmaceutical tariffs, but did not give further details. GSK CEO Emma Walmsley has been focusing on expanding newer products, including within the company's infectious diseases portfolio, to offset declining sales from its top-selling drugs and vaccines as demand slows and competition increases. She is also preparing GSK for looming patent expirations for its HIV treatments. "The momentum in the company's portfolio, together with the strength of our portfolio and proven ability to drive operating leverage, underpin our confidence in guidance for the year and our longer-term outlooks," Walmsley said in a statement. GSK reported first-quarter turnover of £7.52 billion and core profit of 44.9 pence per share, narrowly ahead of analysts' average expectation of £7.42 billion and 40.9 pence per share, respectively, according to a company-compiled consensus. However, sales at its vaccine unit were down 6% to £2.1 billion, with its newer RSV vaccine Arexvy bringing in just £0.1 billion, down 57%. GSK initially had projected Arexvy to be a blockbuster product, estimating peak annual sales of £3 billion, but sales have missed market expectations for the past several quarters. In February, GSK lifted its long-term sales target to over £40 billion by 2031, but uncertainties around pharmaceutical import tariffs and the Trump administration's policies on vaccines and HIV prevention loom large on drugmakers in the near term.
Times
30-04-2025
- Business
- Times
GSK ‘well positioned' to cope with US pharmaceutical tariffs
A continued decline in vaccine sales at GSK in the first quarter was offset by growth in speciality medicines, and the drugs company said it was 'well positioned' to respond to any US pharmaceutical tariffs. Total sales rose to £7.52 billion in the first three months of the year, up 4 per cent at constant currencies and ahead of City analyst forecasts of £7.42 billion. Vaccine sales fell 6 per cent to £2.1 billion, with sales of its blockbuster shingles jab Shingrix and RSV vaccine Arexvy both weaker. However, similar to last year, speciality medicines sales rose 17 per cent to £2.9 billion, helped by oncology sales. Core operating profit also rose by a better-than-expected 4 per cent to £2.5 billion in the first three
Wall Street Journal
30-04-2025
- Business
- Wall Street Journal
GSK Sales, Profit Rise on Boost from Cancer Drugs
GSK GSK 1.63%increase; green up pointing triangle posted higher profit as its cancer treatments lifted sales ahead of analysts' expectations, offsetting lower vaccine sales on weak demand in the U.S. The British pharmaceutical giant said Wednesday that its first-quarter sales rose to 7.52 billion pounds ($10.08 billion) from 7.36 billion pounds the year prior, beating analysts' expectations of 7.42 billion pounds. Higher demand for its specialty medicines business offset a decline of Arexvy sales for respiratory syncytial virus and sales of Shingrix for shingles.
Yahoo
18-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
US CDC advisers recommend lowering the age for RSV shots to 50-59 years
By Sneha S K and Mariam Sunny (Reuters) -The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's panel of outside experts on Wednesday recommended the use of respiratory syncytial virus vaccines in younger adults who are at increased risk of severe illness from the virus. The 15-member panel voted 14-to-0 to recommend that at-risk adults ages 50 to 59 receive a single dose of RSV vaccine. One of the panel members abstained from voting. The CDC currently recommends the vaccine for adults age 75 and older and at-risk adults ages 60 to 74. "What's swaying me is there clearly are people in that 50 to 59 years age group, for example lung transplant patients, ...that would clearly benefit from having access to this vaccine," Jane Zucker, one of the voting members of the panel, said ahead of the vote. If the recommendation is adopted by the CDC, it would make about 30% of U.S. adults in that age group eligible for the RSV vaccine, according to panelist Michael Melgar. The outside vaccine experts also asked for more data on durability of the shot's benefits as well as the timing for re-vaccination. "I'm a huge proponent of lowering the age as well as making it as simple as possible... and the fact that they kept the risk base as broad as it was," said Jason Goldman, a non-voting panel member. RSV typically causes cold-like symptoms, but is also a leading cause of pneumonia in toddlers and older adults. An estimated 15,000–20,000 annual RSV-associated hospitalizations occur in the U.S. in adults aged 50 to 59, according to the CDC. The CDC director typically signs off on the panel's recommendations before they are implemented, but the agency does not currently have one. President Donald Trump's nomination for the post, Susan Monarez, has yet to be confirmed by the U.S. Senate. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved three vaccines for RSV — GSK's Arexvy, Moderna's mRESVIA and Pfizer's Abrysvo. Arexvy and Abrysvo are approved to prevent RSV-associated lower respiratory tract disease in adults aged 50 to 59 and 18 to 59, respectively, who are at an increased risk from the disease. Moderna's application for at-risk adults aged 18 to 59 is under FDA review. The panel is expected to consider the use of RSV vaccines in adults younger than 50 at its June meeting. The panel also voted to recommend use of GSK's pentavalent meningococcal vaccine and separate vaccines from Bavarian Nordic and Valneva against chikungunya, a mosquito-borne virus. On Tuesday, the panel discussed narrowing recommendations on the use of COVID-19 booster shots for the upcoming immunization campaign.
