Robust Q2 results
GlaxoSmithKline has reported second quarter figures showing total pharmaceutical turnover up by 3% to £4.6bn (€6.5bn), and by 6% in the first half of the year. Ceo JP Garnier said: 'This quarter represents another solid performance by GSK and has helped us to grow earnings per share by 20% in the first half of the year. This was a great achievement for GSK especially given the loss of US Augmentin sales in the same period.' The loss of Augmentin sales worth nearly £300m was partially offset by sales of Seretide, which exceeded £1bn (+39%), for the first half, making it the group's largest and fastest growing product. In the US, pharmaceutical sales grew 2% to £2.4bn (€3.4bn) in the quarter.
Aventis achieved consolidated group sales of €8.622bn (US$9.586bn) for the first half of 2003 compared with €11.304bn ($12.569bn) in the same period a year ago. Sales of the core business (prescription drugs, human vaccines, 50% equity interest in the animal health joint venture Merial, and corporate activities) on an activity basis rose by 6.9% to e4.17bn in the second quarter and by 5.2% to €8.14bn in the first half of 2003.
The Bayer Group improved its year-on-year operating result by 80.2% in the second quarter of 2003 to €454m, thanks in part to a particularly strong performance by the pharmaceuticals/biological products segment.
Although group sales declined by 3.3% to €7.3bn in the second quarter due to the strength of the euro, business expanded in most regions, with sales increasing by 7.3% in local currencies. First-half sales totalled €14.6m, down 0.8% in euros but up 9.8% in local currencies. Despite a fall in sales of the healthcare business by 6.2% in the second quarter to €2.2bn, EBIT climbed by 52.8% to €379m. EBIT for the pharmaceuticals/biological products segment increased in the second quarter by 43.1% to €146m, mainly due to higher sales of Ciprobay/Cipro and Kogenate and to improved cost structures.
The number of Baycol cases resolved by settlement has increased substantially. As of 1 August, Bayer had settled 1,211 cases, without acknowledging liability, for payments totalling €378m ($432m). Some 10,100 cases are still pending.
The Merck Group continued on a stable course in the 2nd quarter with its operating result up 35% to €191m, spurred by payments from Bristol-Myers Squibb on sales of Glucophage products and from Schwarz Pharma on sales of generic omeprazole. Sales declined 3.5% to €1.8bn, hindered again by an 11.2% negative currency effect. The organic sales growth rate was 8.1%.
R&d costs rose 15% to €159m, of which 86% or €137m was allocated to pharmaceuticals as products such as the monoclonal-antibody cancer drugs Erbitux and EMD 72000 reach later, more expensive development stages.
Second-quarter pharmaceutical sales rose 8.7% to €843m and the operating result more than doubled compared with a year ago to €99m. Generics continued to show a good performance and ethicals recovered on renewed US sales of Glucophage products, rising by 11% to €463m in the second quarter.
Generics sales rose 8.8% to €302m, led by a 37% jump in sales in continental Europe, where government initiatives in several countries are encouraging the substitution of lower-cost generic drugs.