Sanofi sales slide on patent cliff woes
pharmafile | August 1, 2013 | News story | Sales and Marketing | Aprovel, Plavix, Q2, Sanofi
Sanofi has been hit by generic erosion for key drugs in the second quarter, but the firm is confident it will return to growth by the end of the year.
Total sales for the French company were €8 billion, down 6.3% at constant exchange rates due to generic competition, which negatively impacted the company by €481 million.
In the second quarter, sales for its pharmaceuticals business were €6.7 billion, a decrease of 7.1% due to generics, European austerity measures and a €122 million loss because inventory at customers in Brazil was ‘significantly and inappropriately’ higher than necessary.
Sales lost due to generic competition on main legacy products in the US and EU were €481 million, primarily from declining sales of chemotherapy agent Eloxatin, and anticoagulants Lovenox and Plavix in the US, as well as heart drug Aprovel in the Europe.
The company was also hit by weakening currencies including the Japanese Yen and the US dollar, which contributed toward a 3.5% loss for Sanofi.
Sanofi’s biggest seller, the insulin treatment Lantus, saw 17.7% growth to reach €1.41 billion. The firm’s heart drug Multaq, once touted for blockbuster sales, grew just 10% to €69 million despite being on the market since 2009, as safety concerns continue to dog the treatment.
Genzyme, its biologics unit, continued to perform well for the company, as second quarter sales reached €525 million, an increase of 25.6%, driven by growth of Gaucher disease drug Cerezyme and Fabry disease treatment Fabrazyme, as well as the launch of multiple sclerosis drug Aubagio in the US.
Sanofi’s chief executive, Christopher Viehbacher, said: “The second quarter was a difficult quarter. As expected, this was the last quarter with a tough comparison to the prior year due to the residual impact of the patent cliff. Sales were also affected by our business in Brazil and commercial underperformance in certain business areas.
“However, sales growth of 7.7% of our growth platforms in the first half of 2013 continues to demonstrate the value of Sanofi’s integrated business model. In addition, we keep on making strong progress in delivering a growing portfolio of high potential R&D assets, as highlighted by the multiple clinical and regulatory milestones reached in the second quarter of 2013.”
Viehbacher added that the company “continues to expect to return to growth in the second half of 2013”.
Ben Adams
Related Content
Sanofi and Regeneron’s Dupixent receives CHMP recommendation for chronic spontaneous urticaria
Sanofi and Regeneron have received a positive opinion from the European Medicines Agency’s (EMA) Committee …
Sanofi’s treatment granted orphan designation for rare chronic inflammatory condition
The European Medicines Agency has granted orphan designation to Sanofi’s investigational Bruton’s tyrosine kinase (BTK) …
Sanofi completes acquisition of Vigil Neuroscience to early neurology pipeline
Sanofi has announced that it has finalised its acquisition of Vigil Neuroscience, a US-based biotechnology …
