This Keeps Driving Sanofi’s Growth

Sanofi’s (SNY) 4Q16 revenues were mainly driven by Genzyme and  Sanofi Pasteur. After the reorganization of the Sanofi Group, Genzyme now includes products for multiple sclerosis, rare diseases, and oncology.

Genzyme sales rose ~12.9% at constant exchange rates in 4Q16 to 1.57 billion euros, driven by strong performance of Aubagio and Lemtrada in multiple sclerosis drugs, Fabrazyme and Cerdelga in rare diseases, and Jevtana in oncology.

Sanofi’s Aubagio and Lemtrada are the two drugs used to treat multiple sclerosis. Multiple sclerosis drugs reported revenues of 484 million euros (about $513.7 million) in 4Q16, which represents a 37.1% sequential rise at constant exchange rates.

Aubagio, the fastest growing once-daily oral drug for relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis, reported a growth of 34.2% at constant exchange rates to 367 million euros (about $389.5 million), due to increased sales in the US and Western Europe.

Lemtrada, another drug for the treatment of relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis, reported a growth of over 49% to 117 million euros (about $124.2 million). Aubagio competes with drugs like Copaxone from Teva Pharmaceuticals (TEVA), Tysabri from Biogen (BIIB), and Gilenya from Novartis AG (NVS).

Rare diseases include drugs like Cerezyme, Myozyme and Febrazyme used to treat some rare diseases including Gaucher disease. Rare diseases drugs reported revenues of 716 million euros (about $759.9 million) in 4Q16, which represents an increase of 9.7% over 4Q15 revenues at constant exchange rates, mainly driven by Myozyme, Febrazyme, Aldurazyme, and the new drug Cerdelga.

Oncology franchise sales declined by ~4% at 369 million euros (about $391 million) in 4Q16, mainly due to lower sales of Taxotere, Eloxatin, and Zaltrap, partially offset by Jevtana, Thymoglobulin, and Mozobil. Taxotere sales declined due to generic competition in Japan, while Eloxatin sales declined due to generic competition in Canada.

To divest risk, investors can consider ETFs like the PowerShares International Dividend Achievers ETF’s (PID), which has 1.4% of its total assets in Sanofi.