GSK Previews Oral and Poster Abstracts for ATS International Congress

GSK is preparing to present data from its respiratory portfolio in more than 40 abstracts at the 2025 edition of the American Thoracic Society (ATS) International Congress, which will be held in San Francisco from May 16–21 (1).

Among a list of 43 scheduled abstracts, including four late-breaking submissions, GSK in a press release on May 2, 2025 offered details on 26 “key presentations” to be made at the event, five of which will be given orally (1). This group of presentations, GSK said, will largely focus on optimal patient care that facilitates prevention and treatment of diseases such as asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

Two of the treatments that will be receiving plenty of attention in GSK’s presentations are mepolizumab and depemokimab, which are both monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) that target IL-5, a key cytokine or messenger protein in asthma with type 2 inflammation. Phase III trials (MATINEE for mepolizumab and SWIFT-1 and SWIFT-2 for depemokimab) have assessed the efficacy and safety of their respective medications in treating type 2 inflammation and, in mepolizumab’s case, COPD (1).

Mepolizumab is currently approved for use in the United States and Europe across four IL-5 mediated diseases, but not for treatment of COPD. Depemokimab is an investigational product that has not yet been approved for use in any country, according to GSK (1).

Meanwhile, GSK has received approvals for several treatments in other areas so far in 2025.

In April 2025, the United Kingdom’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency authorized GSK’s belantamab mafodotin (brand name Blenrep), an antibody-drug conjugate that comprises a humanized B cell maturation antigen mAb conjugated to the cytotoxic agent auristatin F via a non-cleavable linker, for treatment of adults with multiple myeloma in either of two combinations: with bortezomib plus dexamethasone for patients who have received at least one prior therapy, and with pomalidomide plus dexamethasone for those who have received a prior therapy including lenalidomide (2). Prior to that, in February, FDA approved GSK’s vaccine for meningococcal disease groups A, B, C, W, and Y, marketed as Penmenvy, for use in individuals aged 10 through 25 in the US (3).

GSK has also announced numerous partnerships and collaborations since the fourth quarter of 2024: a five-year partnership with the University of Cambridge and Cambridge University Hospitals to treat immune-related diseases with existing as well as newly-developed therapies, particularly kidney and respiratory diseases; strategic deals with Relation, a UK-based platform biotechnology company, for the identification and validation of novel therapeutic targets for fibrotic diseases and osteoarthritis, and Muna Therapeutics, a Denmark-based biotech, to identify and validate novel drug targets for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease; and a research collaboration with the University of Oxford that will focus on the potential of cancer prevention through vaccination (4–7).

References

1. GSK. GSK Continues to Advance the Future of Respiratory Medicine and Patient Care with New Data at ATS. Press Release. May 2, 2025.
2. GSK. Blenrep (belantamab mafodotin) Combinations Approved by UK MHRA in Relapsed/Refractory Multiple Myeloma. Press Release. April 21, 2025.
3. GSK. Penmenvy, GSK’s 5-in-1 Meningococcal Vaccine, Approved by US FDA to Help Protect Against MenABCWY. Press Release. Feb. 15, 2025.
4. GSK. GSK and Cambridge University Announce New Five-Year Collaboration in Kidney and Respiratory Disease. Press Release. Oct. 21, 2024.
5. Relation. Relation Announces Two Strategic Collaborations with GSK to Advance Therapeutics for Fibrotic Diseases and Osteoarthritis. Press Release. Dec. 10, 2024.
6. Muna Therapeutics. Muna Therapeutics Announces Strategic Alliance with GSK to Accelerate Development of Novel Treatments for Alzheimer’s Disease. Press Release. Dec. 5, 2024.
7. GSK. GSK and Oxford Establish the GSK-Oxford Cancer Immuno-Prevention Programme to Advance Novel Cancer Research. Press Release. Jan. 27, 2025.