Sanofi targets profit growth from new drug push, reorganisation

Sanofi on Thursday pledged further increases in full-year profits, helped by new drug launches and reorganisation efforts.

The French drugmaker said it expected net income to increase by 3-5 per cent in 2019 as it posted slightly higher-than-expected quarterly earnings powered once again by its rare diseases Genzyme unit.

Sanofi, whose struggle to find new products has weighed on previous earnings as diabetes patents expired, is placing hopes on the success of its new rare blood disorder franchise and a continued upswing for its eczema treatment Dupixent.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said on Wednesday it had approved Sanofi’s drug to treat a life-threatening autoimmune disorder characterized by clot formation in small blood vessels.

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The treatment was originally developed by Ablynx, a Belgium biotech firm that Sanofi acquired in January last year for €3.9 billion just after snatching US haemophilia specialist Bioverativ for $11.6 billion.

Sanofi’s fourth-quarter business net income was up 4.3 per cent at constant exchange rates to €1.36 billion, while revenue rose 3.9 per cent to €9 billion. Sales at Genzyme surged 37.4 per cent.

Analysts polled by Reuters in partnership with Infront Data had on average been expecting a business net income of €1.32 billion on sales of €8.9 billion. – Reuters