There are some big picture changes underway driving GSK's upbeat stance on adult immunization. With a population of about 1.43bn and improving life expectancy in India, the preventive medicine theme is gaining traction, including on the policy front.
“We are working very closely with healthcare practitioners/hospitals, to set up the adult vaccination ecosystem, because that will be the real game changer. But we also believe it's not a 100-meter sprint, it's an endurance sport,” Bhushan Akshikar, managing director, GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals Ltd. told Scrip in an interview.
By 2036, the population of India is expected to go up to 1.52bn, with a minor uptick in the percentage of the female population to 48.8% versus 48.5% in the 2011 Census, government data indicated earlier this year. Life expectancy has been steadily increasing since 1990 and stood at 68.6 and 71.4 years for males and females respectively during 2016-20 and is expected to reach 71.2 and 74.7 years respectively by 2031-36.
Government policies too reflect a thrust on quality of care, focus on emerging diseases and investing in “promotive and preventive” healthcare. Companies like GSK see a central role for themselves in the emerging scenario.
With the debut of Shingrix in April 2023, Akshikar noted that many physicians who hitherto were "never vaccinators", had started vaccinating. “For us, that is the real metric, which means you are actually making prevention an equally important part of the armamentarium of that healthcare practitioner, as opposed to just focusing on treatment,” he explained. Shingrix was among the top 10 new product introductions on the Indian pharma market in the past 12 months as per IQVIA data for February 2024.
Such early groundwork in adult vaccination is also important with products like the respiratory syncytial virus vaccine (Arexvy) in the wings. GSK has submitted an application for conducting a Phase III clinical study in India with Arexvy in older adults to support its marketing authorization application in India. Trials are expected to commence next month in India.
GSK has also obtained marketing authorisation in India for oncology assets including Zejula (niraparib) and Jemperli (dostarlimab concentrate solution for infusion) for the maintenance treatment of ovarian cancer and the second line treatment of endometrial cancer, respectively.
Akshikar indicated that the company is in the advanced stages in terms of progressing the commercial model of the launch of these oncology assets.
