GlaxoSmithKline trials ‘could lift profits’

The profits of GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), the UK’s largest pharmaceutical company, could be boosted later this year by the arrival of positive clinical data for two of the firm’s best-selling drugs, according to some analysts.

New trial results for Advair and Avandia – GSK’s first and second best-selling drugs respectively – are expected later in the year, with positive outcomes said to be important for the company’s short-term success.

Advair, known as Seretide in European markets, is currently used as an asthma therapy and it has been undergoing tests for use in patients with chronic obstruction pulmonary disorder, with mixed results being reported in a previous study, entitled TORCH.

Navid Malik, a Collins Stewart industry analyst, told Reuters: “These are very important pieces of data which could trigger upgrades to sales forecasts.”

“The TORCH study was perceived as being a mixed result, so the more confidence we get that Glaxo can get the label changed, the more likely people will lift numbers,” he added.

Recently, GSK received an endorsement from the European Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use for a new range of Advair/Seretide doses.

Additionally, recent data suggests that Avandia, the diabetes treatment, could have benefits for Alzheimer’s patients after a study of 511 patients exhibited improvements following treatment with the drug.

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