Pharma giants AstraZeneca and GSK , the U.K.'s second and ninth most valuable companies, both saw first-quarter profits beat expectations early Wednesday.

AstraZeneca's core earnings per share came in at $2.58, while analysts polled by FactSet had expected $2.53. GSK's core EPS was £0.47 ($0.63) versus the expected £0.43, as per FactSet.

It comes as an increasing number of pharma CEOs have warned that Europe could see fewer new drugs launched amid a push by U.S. President Donald Trump to lower prices for medicines in America — unless Europe addresses some of the continent's most pressing issues impacting competitiveness.

The CEOs of Novartis, AstraZeneca, Roche , and Boehringer Ingelheim have said that European countries risk missing out on novel medicines, if prices in the lucrative U.S.…