GSK signs £2.5bn shingles vaccine deal with China’s Zhifei

GSK has signed a deal with Zhifei, China’s largest vaccine company by revenue, as the British drugmaker aims to double global sales of its shingles vaccine by 2026.

The UK-based pharmaceutical company said Zhifei had agreed to buy £2.5bn worth of GSK’s bestselling shot, Shingrix, which is targeted at older adults, over three years.

The deal includes an option for Zhifei to also distribute GSK’s vaccine for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) if it is approved by regulators in China. Arexy has been approved by regulators in the US, EU and UK. 

Luke Miels, GSK’s chief commercial officer, said the partnership “materially expands” the number of Chinese adults who would benefit from Shingrix. By 2030, there will be about 570mn adults over the age of 50 in China, but as of June 2023, only around 1.2 per cent had been vaccinated against shingles. 

“This partnership is consistent with our focus on products with a high and durable level of differentiation,” he said. 

The agreement is the first of its kind in China for GSK, helping it expand access to the vaccine from about 9,000 vaccination sites to 30,000. Zhifei already partners with US Merck, known as MSD outside the US, to sell billions of dollars of its vaccines in the country. 

Large pharmaceutical companies are hoping to expand rapidly in China, targeting an ageing population that suffers from an increasing burden of chronic diseases. The Chinese government has accelerated the approval of innovative pharmaceutical products — but at the same time, is putting pressure on prices for the more popular drugs.  

While AstraZeneca has built its brand in China and has a large unit that has deep roots beyond Beijing and Shanghai, GSK has had to navigate a trickier path since a corruption scandal in 2015. The company declined to comment on that matter on Monday.

GSK aims to double sales of Shingrix to more than £4bn a year in 2026. The jab is aimed at preventing shingles, a painful condition which is caused by the same virus that causes chickenpox. The chance of developing the condition increases with age, as people’s immune systems become less robust.  

In a recent trial in Chinese adults over 50, the vaccine demonstrated 100 per cent efficacy, with no participant who received the shot developing the condition.