Sanofi Reports Q2 Profit Beat Driven by Dupixent Sales Surge of 34.2%

Before the U.S. stock market on July 28, French pharmaceutical giantSanofi(SNY.US) Announced its financial results for the second quarter of 2023. The report shows that Sanofi's Q2 net sales were €9.965 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 1.5%, falling short of market expectations of €10.04 billion. Net profit was €1.435 billion, a year-on-year increase of 22.1%. The net profit from main operations increased by 0.3% year-on-year to €2.177 billion, surpassing market expectations of €2.09 billion; earnings per share, excluding certain special items, were €1.74, better than market expectations of €1.68.

By business segment, sales from the Professional Care business were €4.403 billion, representing an 11.8% increase year-over-year; sales of general medicines amounted to €3.114 billion, marking a 7.3% decrease year-over-year; vaccine sales reached €1.223 billion, reflecting a 9.1% year-over-year growth; and sales from the Consumer Healthcare (CHC) business totaled €1.225 billion, showing a 0.7% year-over-year increase.

Among them, in the professional care business, the sales of the best-selling drug Dupixent reached 2.562 billion euros, a year-on-year increase of 34.2%. Dupixent is a versatile monoclonal antibody used to treat conditions ranging from asthma to severe eczema. Sanofi hopes to expand the market for this drug. Notably, the drug has recently shown promise in treating a chronic lung disease, a development that could potentially bring billions of euros in sales to the company.

Sales of Nexviazyme, a next-generation enzyme replacement therapy (ERT) for Pompe disease, reached €103 million, representing a year-over-year increase of 146.5%. Additionally, due to intensified generic competition for the multiple sclerosis drug Aubagio, its sales in Q2 declined by 58.2% year-over-year to €216 million.

Sanofi is also working hard to launch new drugs, including Altuviiio for the treatment of hemophilia and Beyfortus for respiratory syncytial virus in infants, the latter of which received approval from U.S. regulators this month. The company has also launched Tzield, a drug for treating Type 1 diabetes that it acquired through the purchase of Provention Bio.

Looking ahead, Sanofi expects earnings per share (EPS) growth in 2023, excluding certain special items and measured at constant exchange rates (CER), to be in the mid-single digits, revised up from previous guidance of low-single digit growth. The company also anticipates approximately €400 million in one-time sales of its COVID-19 vaccine in the second half of this year; Chief Financial Officer Jean-Baptiste Chasseloup de Chatillon stated this would likely be the last time the company commercializes this product.

As of press time, Sanofi's pre-market trading on Friday fell nearly 3%.

Editor: Guo Mingyu