London, June 13, 2026, 18:04 BST
- GSK ended the session in London at 1,980p/1,981p, up 21.5p, or 1.10%. Hargreaves Lansdown put GSK’s market cap at £79.54 billion and the price/earnings ratio at 11.41.
- Momelotinib got orphan drug status in both the US and EU for VEXAS syndrome, which has no approved treatment options.
- Investors are looking ahead to the ATLAS trial update, GSK’s Q2 results and portfolio-growth event on July 28, and the coming FDA calls on Nuvalent’s lung cancer drugs.
GSK plc closed up in London trade, with shares gaining 21.5p, or 1.10%, to a 1,980p sell price and 1,981p buy price by the Hargreaves Lansdown market close snapshot. The FTSE 100 finished up 1.63%. Investors looked past a new rare-disease regulatory update to focus on the bigger question: whether CEO Luke Miels can deliver durable earnings growth from an expanded oncology pipeline.
GSK said June 12 that its drug momelotinib, already marketed as Ojjaara or Omjjara for myelofibrosis, was granted orphan drug status by both the US Food and Drug Administration and the European Medicines Agency for VEXAS syndrome. Orphan drug designation is a regulatory status aimed at drugs for rare diseases. The EMA says EU orphan designation gives scientific and regulatory support but does not mean the drug is already approved for that use.
GSK’s move may move the stock, with momelotinib now being lined up for label expansion beyond its current myelofibrosis approvals in the US, EU, UK and Japan. The company said there are no approved treatments for VEXAS, which is linked to a five-year mortality rate of 30% to 40%. GSK is starting a phase II/III ATLAS study looking at the drug’s safety and efficacy, aiming at future global filings.
GSK’s new rare-disease update isn’t a big shift, but it lines up with the company’s pitch after its $10.6 billion move this week to buy Nuvalent. That acquisition adds two late-stage lung cancer drugs, zidesamtinib and neladalkib, both with FDA target dates—September 18 and November 27, 2026. Miels told Reuters this deal is unusual, calling it “three products in one.” SEC
Nuvalent is the main swing factor in the deal for GSK. GSK put out a $124-a-share all-cash bid, which is 40% above Nuvalent’s last close. The company said the deal should help sales and core operating profit by 2027, and lift core earnings per share in 2029. Core EPS here refers to earnings per share adjusted for excluded items. GSK also said the purchase could dilute core EPS by a low-single-digit percent between 2026 and 2028, will mostly use debt and cash, and won’t affect the 2026 outlook.
GSK’s bull case hinges on new late-stage drugs getting added as its main business keeps growing. First quarter sales hit £7.6 billion, up 5% at constant exchange rates. Specialty Medicines climbed 14%, Oncology jumped 28%, and core operating profit was up 10%. In April, Miels said GSK had “made a strong start to 2026” and was “focused on execution and accelerating R&D.” GSK
Bears say the stock leans harder on clinical and regulatory milestones now. Reuters quoted Verso Investment Management’s James Eugene, who said the Nuvalent price tag may have caught some investors off-guard. Bank of America analysts pointed to the story in late-stage oncology. The risks: GSK still needs to close the Nuvalent deal, get approvals, fight for share in packed lung-cancer drug markets, and handle the dolutegravir HIV patent cliff from 2028 to 2030.
GSK shares are trading at what looks like a fair value right now, not a bargain. Hargreaves Lansdown shows a price/earnings ratio of 11.41 and a dividend yield at 3.33%. GSK has guided for a 70p dividend in 2026. Analyst numbers collected by GSK ahead of the Nuvalent news project 2026 EPS at 179.8p and 2027 at 195.0p, so the stock trades near 11 times those earnings numbers. The next marker for investors is GSK’s Q2 results and pipeline update due July 28, where they’ll want to see signs GSK’s pipeline backs up the risks on new deals.
