Sanofi Returned to Growth in 3Q

By Donato Paolo Mancini

French pharmaceuticals heavyweight Sanofi SA (SAN.FR) reported a rise in key third-quarter metrics Wednesday, with its bet on higher-value drugs seeming to offset declining revenue from its diabetes division, long afflicted by the loss of exclusivity for former blockbusters.

Net sales at the company increased to 9.39 billion euros ($10.67 billion) from EUR9.06 billion the year prior, buoyed by sales of vaccines and by the specialty-care division Sanofi Genzyme, which grew 36% on year.

Business net income--an important, adjusted metric for the company that excludes amortization, impairments, restructuring costs and other values--increased to EUR2.30 billion from EUR2.14 billion the year before, Sanofi said.

Sales in the diabetes and cardiovascular franchise decreased 6.3% at constant currencies, it said.

Like a host of its peers in the industry, Sanofi has moved to focus on higher-value drugs by making deals. This year, it bought Ablynx, which develops drugs made from unusually small antibodies, and Bioverativ, a U.S. hemophilia specialist.

"In the third quarter, Sanofi entered a new growth phase. We delivered strong results with double-digit growth in specialty care and emerging markets, while vaccines contributed a high-single digit increase in sales," said Sanofi Chief Executive Olivier Brandicourt. "Based on the underlying dynamics demonstrated in the quarter, Sanofi is now well positioned to deliver growth," Mr. Brandicourt said.

Write to Donato Paolo Mancini at [e-mail]; @donatopmancini

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 31, 2018 02:48 ET (06:48 GMT)

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