Sanofi Genzyme Continued Growth in 2016

Sanofi’s (SNY) 2016 revenues were mainly driven by Sanofi Genzyme and Sanofi Pasteur. Sanofi Genzyme is the specialty care business including multiple sclerosis, rare diseases, and oncology products.

Sanofi Genzyme sales increased ~17.2% YoY (year-over-year) at constant exchange rates in 2016 to 5.95 billion euros (about $6.4 billion), driven by strong performances from Aubagio and Lemtrada in multiple sclerosis drugs, Fabrazyme and Cerdelga in rare diseases, and Jevtana in Oncology.

Sanofi’s Aubagio and Lemtrada are both used to treat multiple sclerosis. Multiple sclerosis drugs reported sales of 1.72 billion euros (about $1.84 billion) in 2016, an increase of 56.1% YoY at constant exchange rates.

Aubagio, the fastest growing once-daily oral drug for relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis, reported a growth of 49.7% at constant exchange rates to 1.29 billion euros (about $1.38 billion), due to increased sales in US and international markets.

Lemtrada, a drug that treats relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis, reported a growth of over 79% to 425 million euros (about $454.3 million). Aubagio competes with drugs like Copaxone from Teva Pharmaceuticals (TEVA), Tysabri from Biogen (BIIB), and Gilenya from Novartis AG (NVS).

Sanofi’s rare diseases portfolio includes drugs like Cerezyme, Myozyme, and Febrazyme, which are used to treat diseases like Gaucher disease. Rare diseases drugs reported revenues of 2.78 billion euros (about $2.97 billion) in 2016, a YoY rise of 11.7% at constant exchange rates, mainly driven by Myozyme, Febrazyme, Aldurazyme, and the new drug Cerdelga.

Oncology franchise sales fell ~2.2% YoY to 1.45 billion euros (about $1.55 billion) in 2016, 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 fell due to generic competition in Canada.

Notably, 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.

Now let’s take a closer look at Sanofi’s Diabetes and Cardiovascular franchise.