Actelion Pharmaceuticals Ltd expressed confidence in its 2014 annual report that it can maintain its franchise in pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), despite the loss of exclusivity on its best-selling drug that accounts for 76% of its business.
H. Lundbeck A/S, which develops products for brain disorders, launched four new products in 2014 but the ensuing revenue was not enough to offset the effects of generic competition. Its revenue declined by 11.7%, a 2013 profit turned into a 2014 loss and the Danish company’s dividend was passed.
Shire Plc, which was the subject of an aborted takeover by AbbVie Inc in 2014, proved that it could do well as a stand-alone company with annual revenue rising by 22% and a more than five-fold increase in net profits, mainly as a result of product price rises, new income from an acquisition and a hefty below-the-line payment from AbbVie for failing to complete the merger.
14M Genomics Ltd of the UK, which is a portfolio company of Syncona Partners LLP, is to collaborate with the UK Haematological Malignancy Research Network to improve diagnostic and clinical care pathways for patients with blood and lymphatic cancers.
Switzerland-based GlycoVaxyn AG, a specialist vaccine developer, has been sold by its venture capital investors to GlaxoSmithKline Plc in a deal that values the company at $212 million. The company’s investors include Sofinnova Partners, Index Ventures and Edmond de Rothschild Investment Partners.
Belgium-based Biocartis NV has joined the growing number of companies developing diagnostics for the early detection of infection by the Ebola virus. The company is developing the test in association with Janssen Diagnostics whose pharmaceutical affiliate is working on a vaccine for the disease.
A widely prescribed monoclonal antibody for patients with wet age-related macular degeneration, Lucentis (ranibizumab), has been approved in the US for a new indication – diabetic retinopathy in patients with diabetic macular oedema.
Sanofi SA expects that earnings per share this year will be stable to slightly higher against a background of change affecting its diabetes portfolio. The company’s new insulin glargine Toujeo is under regulatory review with a decision expected in the US in the first quarter.
2014 was a year of growth for AstraZeneca Plc as the company restocked its late-stage portfolio and invested in collaborations that will strengthen its core therapeutic areas of cardiovascular and metabolic medicines, respiratory drugs and oncology. Revenue was up by 3% on a currency adjusted basis. But 2015 is expected to be tougher as generic competition emerges in the US for Nexium, the proton pump inhibitor that was a pillar of the company’s sales for many years.
GlaxoSmithKline Plc finished 2014 with turnover and operating profit broadly lower compared with a year earlier on the back of a drop in respiratory medicine sales in the US. Global vaccine and consumer healthcare sales also declined.