With the Patent Cliff Approaching, GSK Launches £1.9 Billion Cost-Cutting Plan to Bet on Late-Stage Drugs

For large pharmaceutical companies, the hardest hurdle is often not discovering new molecules, but ensuring that the next wave of products takes over in time. With its leading HIV drug dolutegravir expected to progressively lose market exclusivity between 2028 and 2030, GSK has announced a three-year restructuring aimed at cutting existing costs to secure more funding and time for late-stage clinical trials.

GSK has set a target of achieving £1.9 billion in annual savings by 2029. The overall plan is expected to cost £2.4 billion to implement, including £2.1 billion in cash expenditures. The savings will be invested primarily in R&D and business development, with a portion also used to support profitability during the expiration of dolutegravir’s patent. This means the restructuring is not simply about reducing the company’s scale, but about reallocating capital from mature businesses to products that could become the next wave of growth drivers.

Following a portfolio review, GSK selected seven late-stage assets and is preparing to accelerate the development of 18 indications across oncology, respiratory diseases, liver diseases, and vaccines. The company now expects to initiate more than 20 Phase 3 trials in 2026, more than double the 10 proposed at the beginning of the year; Reuters, using a broader definition, puts the number of late-stage studies at 25. The increase in trials signals ambition, but advancing multiple large studies simultaneously will also intensify pressure on enrollment, manufacturing, and clinical execution.

Costs will be released through measures involving support services, procurement, processes, and supply-chain simplification, while some resources will also shift from mature medicines to new products. The restructuring will involve layoffs, but GSK has not disclosed the number of people affected globally, leaving the plan’s actual impact on research teams, operational continuity, and local employment unclear.

The company’s R&D footprint will also be redrawn. GSK plans to invest £400 million to establish an approximately 300,000-square-foot global R&D center at the Cambridge Biomedical Campus, accommodating more than 1,000 scientists working across oncology, respiratory diseases, liver diseases, vaccines, and HIV research. By locating near hospitals, academic institutions, and biotechnology companies, the company hopes to shorten the path from basic discovery to clinical validation. Its existing R&D site in Stevenage will be vacated in phases, with completion expected in 2029, while the Ware laboratories will be upgraded and take on some personnel.

Whether this bet can fill the patent gap will ultimately depend on trial results, not the number of trials. GSK recently discontinued development of the chronic cough candidate camlipixant after a pivotal study failed and recognized a £1.33 billion impairment, illustrating that late-stage assets can also falter during the costly validation stage. The restructuring provides more opportunities to take a shot; the real test is whether the seven priority assets can generate clinical evidence strong enough to change standards of care and take over commercially.