JPM2025: Pharm Shake off 2024 Blues, Embrace Uncertainty

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On the first day of #JPM2025, executives from GSK, Pfizer, and Gilead, having weathered a tough 2024, expressed cautious optimism for the new year. Whether through mergers and acquisitions, new deals, pipeline reorganization, or breakthrough therapies, the industry is hoping to find relief.

GSK, the UK-based pharmaceutical giant, arrived at JPM2025 with a $1 billion deal with IDRx, focusing on GI cancer. In an interview with CNBC’s Consumer News and Business Channel, GSK CEO Emma Walmsley shared that the company looks forward to working with the incoming Trump administration. Despite Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s controversial nomination as the next Secretary of Health and Human Services—a noted vaccine critic—Walmsley emphasized GSK's commitment to preventative care, particularly vaccines, which she believes offer significant benefits to the healthcare system.

Despite these positive moves, GSK’s stock has struggled throughout 2024, ending the year with a decline. However, the U.S. remains GSK’s top market for new drugs.

Meanwhile, Pfizer’s CEO Albert Bourla outlined a similar focus on pipeline strength for 2025. After an 8% drop in Pfizer's stock throughout 2024, Bourla noted that oncology remains the company’s most promising area. He also addressed concerns about bird flu, stating that while it requires close monitoring, he is not overly worried.

As for the latest hot development area, obesity, Pfizer is advancing its GLP-1 drug, danuglipron, which is currently in Phase 3 trials.

While the CEOs’ upbeat statements helped bring some optimism to the start of the year, the overall sentiment remains cautiously optimistic. Much of the industry’s outlook is tempered by uncertainty regarding the new administration’s policies and regulatory changes.