GSK vaccine sales tumble as patients stay at home

sHARes in Glaxosmithkline fell after the British drugs giant warned that a drop in vaccinations during the coronavirus crisis could hurt profits.

Lockdown made patients less likely to visit the doctor and get a jab for diseases such as shingles, hepatitis and meningitis, sending vaccine sales 29pc lower in the second quarter.

If that continues, profits this year could fall by more than the 1pc-to-4pc already forecast.

The warning came just hours after Glaxo and French partner sanofi agreed to supply the UK with 60m doses of a potential Covid-19 jab. Despite the initial buzz from that deal rallying its shares, they fell 3.2pc, or 50.8p, to 1553.8p yesterday.

The drop in vaccine sales to £1.1bn was below even the £1.3bn expected by financial analysts. Booming sales of Glaxo’s shingles vaccine, shingrix, have been a persistent bright spot in recent years even as growing competition for older drugs has threatened to eat into its other sources of income.

And while inoculation of children is now back to pre-Covid19 levels, adolescent and adult vaccination is not.

Glaxo boss emma Walmsley said: ‘In the second quarter, with lockdown measures, we have seen an impact on people’s willingness, or being able to access vaccines.’

Asked about the price for the Covid jab in Britain, she said Glaxo did not expect to profit from the product.

Overall, group turnover fell from £7.8bn to £7.6bn in the three months to June 30.

That included a 5pc drop in sales of pharmaceuticals, after a rush of customers early in the pandemic used up its stockpiles of medicines.

Consumer healthcare products were up by 25pc, and second-quarter profits rose from £1.3bn to £2.6bn. However, for the full year, earnings are expected to fall. Walmsley said the numbers overall showed Glaxo remained ‘resilient’.

The firm held its quarterly dividend at 19p per share.