London, United Kingdom – British drugs giant GlaxoSmithKline on Wednesday said net profit dropped 17 percent in the first quarter after the demerger of its health care unit Haleon and lower Covid treatment sales.
Profit after tax fell to £1.5 billion ($1.9 billion) compared with the first three months of 2022, GSK said in a statement.
Revenue dropped more than three percent to £7 billion.
Sales of its Covid antibody treatment Xevudy slumped 98 percent to £31 million, offset by strong growth in other areas, including shingles and meningitis.
GSK, under chief executive Emma Walmsley, is seeking to concentrate on development of new drugs after overseeing the split of Haleon.
“We are very focused on our upcoming launches… and on continuing to strengthen our pipeline” of drugs in development, she said in the statement.
The company on Tuesday said the EU’s drug watchdog will study a new treatment for a common type of womb cancer for potential approval in the European market.
The European Medicines Agency agreed to review the drug dostarlimab, which has the brand name Jemperli.
It comes after GSK last week announced the purchase of Canadian chronic cough treatment specialist Bellus for US$2 billion.
Following the results, the company’s share price retreated 1.6 percent in morning deals on London’s top-tier FTSE 100 index, which was down 0.6 percent overall.
“As anticipated sales of Covid-19 solutions dented the top line, but strong sales of higher margin products such as  Shingrix for shingles, meningitis vaccines, and long-acting HIV medicines helped shore up profits,” noted Derren Nathan, head of equity research at Hargreaves Lansdown.