Sanofi lifts forecast on demand for asthma drug and flu shot

Sanofi increased its profit forecast for a second time this year as the French drugmaker’s blockbuster therapy Dupixent gained market share in the US and Europe.

Earnings per share, excluding some items, will grow by as much as 16 per cent at constant currencies this year, the company said on Friday. That compares with an earlier forecast of 15 per cent growth.

The French drugmaker is working to expand sales of Dupixent, an antibody treatment for ailments ranging from asthma to severe eczema, as well as bring more experimental drugs to the market. It hopes momentum for these new products will compensate for growing challenges like the mass litigation brewing in the US over heartburn medicine Zantac.

The shares rose 3.5 per cent in Paris trading.

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The results are probably strong enough to prompt analysts to raise earnings per share estimates by 2 per cent to 3 per cent at current exchange rates, said John Murphy, an analyst with Bloomberg Intelligence.

Dupixent sales jumped 45 per cent in the quarter to €2.3 billion, helping fuel revenue that topped analyst estimates. Sanofi also benefited from higher demand for vaccines heading into a difficult flu season after two winters overshadowed by the coronavirus.

Demand is falling for Lovenox, an older medicine to prevent blood clots that has been used for people with acute cases of Covid-19. Momentum is also easing for the consumer-health unit, as people move away from the pandemic mindset that caused many to stockpile supplies at home heading into last winter.

Sanofi is in arbitration with Boehringer Ingelheim over which the company has obligations regarding Zantac. Boehringer Ingelheim picked up over-the-counter rights to Zantac in 2006 from Pfizer — then divested those rights a decade later to Sanofi. The companies are both defendants in US suits claiming that Zantac causes cancer. — Bloomberg