Sanofi Q1 Profit Beats Estimates as Dupixent Sales Surge 39.7% Year-over-Year

SmartCom Finance APP learned that French pharmaceutical giant Sanofi (SNY.US) exceeded market expectations in its net profit for the first quarter. The company's blockbuster treatment drug Dupixent achieved very strong sales and gained significant market share. The earnings report published by the company on Thursday showed that, excluding certain special items, earnings per share were €2.16 (approximately $2.39), surpassing the widely expected €2 by analysts. Under IFRS standards, the company’s first-quarter sales increased by 5.7% year-on-year to €10.2 billion, slightly below analysts' general expectations. Among them, the quarterly sales of the best-selling drug Dupixent® reached €2.316 billion, a year-on-year increase of 39.7%.

Under IFRS standards, the company's Q1 net profit reached approximately 20 billion euros, a slight decrease of 0.7% compared to the same period last year. By business segment, Sanofi's Q1 Specialty Care sales were 4.288 billion euros, an increase of 18.3% year-over-year; General Medicines sales were 3.272 billion euros, a decrease of 11.4% year-over-year; Vaccine sales were 1.167 billion euros, an increase of 15.2% year-over-year; Consumer Healthcare (CHC) business sales were 1.495 billion euros, an increase of 11.2% year-over-year.

By region, the company's Q1 sales from the United States were 4.069 billion euros, a year-on-year increase of 11.8%; sales from Europe were 2.576 billion euros, a year-on-year increase of 8.4%; sales from other regions were 3.577 billion euros, a year-on-year decrease of 2.1%.

This French pharmaceutical company is striving to expand the sales of its blockbuster drug Dupixent, a versatile monoclonal antibody used to treat conditions ranging from asthma to severe eczema, while also investing more in advancing new drugs such as Altuviiio for hemophilia and Beyfortus for respiratory syncytial virus in infants.

Sanofi is also looking for new treatment methods. Some analysts predict that the sales of Aubagio, a treatment drug for relapsing multiple sclerosis, will decline as it has begun to face competition from cheaper products in recent weeks. Last month, the company agreed to acquire Provention Bio for approximately $2.9 billion to obtain a diabetes treatment drug recently approved in the United States.

Dupixent has already become a best-seller for Sanofi. The company's management expects the drug to generate revenue of 10 billion euros this year. If its application expands again to treat chronic lung diseases, it may receive an additional boost. Chief Financial Officer Jean-Baptiste de Chatillon stated that the company might revise its sales forecast later this year.

In February this year, Altuvivio received approval from U.S. regulators. In addition, Sanofi reaffirmed its 2023 earnings guidance. Sanofi expects that, unless unforeseen major adverse events occur, the business earnings per share (business EPS) for 2023 will grow at a "low single-digit" rate under the CER standard.

"Sanofi's adjusted earnings per share for the first quarter exceeded expectations, and the company reiterated its full-year guidance, reflecting mixed underlying performance. Whether the company can raise its guidance later in 2023 may depend on its SG&A investment plans. The decision not to increase the peak sales forecast for Dupixent, given that market expectations are much higher than the €13 billion target set by management, could disappoint some investors," said John Murphy, pharmaceuticals analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence.

The stock has risen about 14% since the beginning of this year, outperforming the benchmark index that tracks European pharmaceutical companies.