London, Feb 7, 2026, 08:12 GMT — Market closed.
- GSK shares ended Friday up 0.8% at a 52-week high.
- The EU approved Nucala for certain uncontrolled COPD patients.
- Insider filings showed a chairman buy and a senior executive sale.
Shares of GSK GSK.L ended Friday up 0.83% at 2,198 pence, a 52-week high, after the drugmaker said the European Commission approved Nucala for a form of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The stock is up about 17% over the past week and nearly 49% over the past year.
With London markets shut for the weekend, investors head into Monday weighing whether the regulatory win is enough to keep the rally going. Respiratory is a core franchise for GSK, and one where it fights for share against big peers including AstraZeneca.
The approval lands just days after GSK laid out its pitch for 2026. It forecast turnover growth of 3% to 5% and repeated a 2031 annual sales target of more than 40 billion pounds. Chief executive Luke Miels called 2026 “a key year of execution and operational delivery”. GSK
On Friday, the company said Brussels cleared Nucala (mepolizumab) as an add‑on maintenance treatment for adults with uncontrolled COPD and raised blood eosinophils — a type of white blood cell linked to inflammation — on top of inhaled triple therapy. Nucala is a biologic, meaning it is a lab-made protein drug. “For the first time, adults with uncontrolled COPD … will have the option for a monthly biologic,” Kaivan Khavandi, head of GSK’s respiratory R&D, said. Redmayne Bentley
Approval leaned on the MATINEE phase III trial, in which mepolizumab cut the annual rate of moderate-to-severe flare-ups to 0.80 per patient year from 1.01 with placebo, GSK said. Nucala is also approved in Europe for several other eosinophilic diseases, and for COPD in the United States, UK and China. “The burden for patients living with COPD is immense,” said Susanna Palkonen, director at the European Federation of Allergy and Airways Diseases Patients’ Associations. GSK
Insider trading disclosures also hit the tape. Non-executive chair Sir Jonathan Symonds bought 2,500 shares at 2,114 pence on Feb. 5, a U.S. filing showed. Another notice said David Redfern, GSK’s president of corporate development, sold 100,000 shares at 2,109 pence under the company’s manager dealing rules.
Broker notes stayed mixed after the move. J.P. Morgan analyst Zain Ebrahim kept a sell rating with a 1,700p target price, while Deutsche Bank’s Emmanuel Papadakis reiterated neutral with a 1,675p target, according to dpa-AFX Analyser notes carried by MarketScreener.
The broader tape helped, too. The FTSE 100 ended up 0.6% on Friday, its second straight weekly gain, after the Bank of England signalled rates could fall if the drop in inflation is sustained.
But the next test is commercial, not regulatory. Nucala’s COPD label is tied to patients with raised eosinophils, which narrows the pool, and uptake can still hinge on reimbursement and how quickly doctors change prescribing habits.
One near-term marker sits on the calendar. GSK’s fourth-quarter dividend goes ex-dividend on Feb. 19 — the date after which a buyer is no longer entitled to the payment — with the payout due on April 9, its results documents showed; a March 17 deadline applies for dividend reinvestment elections.
