The latest merger speculation swirling around AstraZeneca and Bristol Myers Squibb has pushed large cap pharma stocks back into the spotlight. Sharp price moves, including AstraZeneca’s intraday fall of up to 7% and a 6% premarket jump for Bristol Myers, show how quickly sentiment can shift when potential mega deals hit the headlines. For investors, this kind of disruption can surface both opportunities and risks. This article looks at 3 stocks from a Healthcare screener that are exposed to this news and that appear positively positioned based on the current catalysts.

GSK (LSE:GSK)

Overview: GSK is a global pharmaceuticals company that researches, develops and manufactures vaccines, specialty drugs and general medicines across areas such as HIV, respiratory disease, oncology and inflammatory conditions, serving patients in the UK, US and many other markets.

Operations: GSK generates around £33.2b in revenue from its Commercial Operations segment, which includes its vaccines, specialty medicines and general medicines businesses.

Market Cap: £76.9b

GSK stands out in large cap pharma right now because it offers scale, a broad vaccine and specialty medicine portfolio and an active oncology pipeline at a P/E of 16x that is well below many peers. Management is leaning into R&D with over 20 Phase III starts in 2026 and a new £400m Cambridge research hub, while also targeting £1.9b in cost savings to support margins. At the same time, investors need to weigh legal overhangs from Zantac, patent expiries and a high debt load that has already fed into EPS guidance cuts after the Nuvalent deal. With AstraZeneca and Bristol Myers in potential mega merger headlines, GSK provides a different way to gain scale pharma exposure without that deal uncertainty.

GSK’s combination of a lower 16x P/E, substantial R&D investment and ongoing legal overhangs can appear complex. Get the full picture with the 4 key rewards and 3 important warning signs

Eli Lilly (LLY)

Overview: Eli Lilly is a global pharmaceutical company that focuses on branded prescription drugs for diabetes, obesity, oncology, immunology, neuroscience and other conditions, with products such as Mounjaro and Zepbound for metabolic disease, Verzenio and Retevmo in cancer, and treatments for migraine and Alzheimer’s disease.

Operations: Eli Lilly generates about US$72.2b in revenue from discovering, developing, manufacturing, marketing and selling pharmaceutical products worldwide, including roughly US$47.1b from the U.S. and the balance across Europe, China, Japan and the rest of the world.

Market Cap: US$1.03t

Eli Lilly is a central player in the GLP 1 obesity and diabetes theme, with tirzepatide products Mounjaro and Zepbound supported by long patent protection and a target market where GLP 1 usage in the U.S. is still a small share of eligible patients. Capacity constraints and pricing pressure are real risks, especially as new GLP 1 and obesity drugs emerge. At the same time, Lilly is committing large sums to new plants and earlier stage deals across radiopharmaceuticals, neuroscience and AI driven drug discovery. Earnings growth forecasts in the mid teens, strong margins and a high P/E indicate that investors already place a high value on this pipeline. Potential Medicare coverage shifts and ongoing deal activity could still alter the company’s trajectory.

Eli Lilly’s accelerating GLP 1 story already commands a premium, yet the real tension sits between that rich P/E and what growth could look like if capacity, pricing and Medicare all shift together. See how the market is weighing that trade off in the analyst forecasts for Eli Lilly

Johnson & Johnson (JNJ)

Overview: Johnson & Johnson is a global healthcare company with two main businesses: prescription drugs under its Innovative Medicine segment, and medical devices and technology under MedTech, serving hospitals, clinics and healthcare professionals across major therapeutic areas such as oncology, immunology, neuroscience and surgery.

Operations: Johnson & Johnson generates about US$98.9b in revenue, with roughly US$63.1b from Innovative Medicine and US$34.8b from MedTech.

Market Cap: US$616.5b

Johnson & Johnson provides exposure to both a large prescription drug portfolio and a sizeable MedTech arm at a time when mega merger talk is putting scale and oncology pipelines under the microscope. The company is focusing on next generation cancer and immunology drugs, in vivo CAR T platforms and robotic surgery, while also working through talc litigation with a proposed US$5.5b settlement to reduce a major legal overhang. Earnings growth has not been smooth, and acquisitions, tariffs and loss of exclusivity for drugs like STELARA all carry risk. Strong cash generation, a long dividend track record and a pipeline that could reshape multiple myeloma and lung cancer contribute to the broader Johnson & Johnson story beyond headline valuations.

Johnson & Johnson’s mix of strong cash generation, MedTech potential and cancer pipeline often gets reduced to simple headline risk. See how the analysis report for Johnson & Johnson could change how you read that talc settlement and the next wave of drug exclusivity shifts.

The three large cap pharma stocks covered here are only a starting point, with the full Healthcare - Large Cap Pharmaceuticals screener surfacing 9 more companies that pair branded drug portfolios with oncology or specialty drug stories that could be just as compelling. To identify and analyze the specific catalysts, legal risks and pipeline narratives that matter most to you, go straight to the Healthcare - Large Cap Pharmaceuticals screener.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.