Sanofi has announced a Q1 2021 sales increase of 2.4% at CER driven by growth drivers Dupixent® and Vaccines. In the first quarter of 2021, Sanofi sales were €8,591 million, down 4.3% on a reported basis.
Exchange rate movements had a negative effect of 6.7 percentage points, mainly driven by the decrease of the U.S. dollar, Brazilian real, Russian ruble, Turkish lira, and Argentine peso and Japanese yen. At CER, Sanofi sales increased 2.4%.
- Specialty Care sales grew 15.3%, due to strong Dupixent® performance (+45.6% to €1,047 million) and oncology launches
- Vaccines up 5.3%, driven by PPH franchise and demand for influenza vaccines in the southern hemisphere
- General Medicines core assets grew 4.4%, while GBU sales were down 3.8%
- CHC decreased 7.3% due to COVID related stocking in Q1 2020 and low demand for cough and cold brands in Europe
Q1 2021 business EPS growth at CER driven by efficiency and sales performance, supported by a one-time payment
- Business EPS was €1.61 up 5.2% on a reported basis and up 15.0% at CER
- Business EPS includes an incremental 8 cents due to a payment related to the termination of collaboration in Japan
- IFRS EPS was €1.25
Progress on implementation of the Corporate Social Responsibility strategy
- Sanofi has become a member of the top five companies of the 2021 Access to Medicine index
- Sanofi announced Sanofi Global Health, a newly formed non-profit unit within the company, a new cornerstone of its CSR strategy
Full-year 2021 business EPS guidance affirmed
- Sanofi expects 2021 business EPS(1) to grow high single digit at CER, barring unforeseen major adverse events. Applying average April 2021 exchange rates, the currency impact on 2021 business EPS is estimated to be between -4% to -5%.
Sanofi Chief Executive Officer, Paul Hudson, commented:
“Our strong first-quarter performance is the result of the continued execution of our Play to Win strategy to drive growth and bring innovative medicines to patients. Dupixent® continues its outstanding performance with impressive growth in the U.S. and strong uptake in global markets, including China.
Vaccines delivered growth in its core segments. We initiated and completed enrollment of our Phase 2 study for our recombinant COVID-19 vaccine candidate in the first quarter and results are expected next month. Following the communication of our ESG strategy at the end of 2020 and embedding it into our business priorities, we have recently created the Sanofi Global Health Unit, dedicated to increasing access to 30 medicines considered essential by the WHO.
Sanofi is uniquely positioned to make this difference to society, which can be scaled and sustained over time, given our portfolio of essential medicines and broad geographic presence.”