Anoro Ellipta May Boost GlaxoSmithKline’s Respiratory Franchise Revenues

GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) is focused on advancing its fixed-dose combination long-acting muscarinic antagonist (or LAMA) and long-acting beta agonist (or LABA) therapy, Anoro Ellipta, and open triple therapy comprising of inhaled corticosteroid (or ICS) and LABA therapy, Revlar/Breo and LAMA therapy, Incruse Ellipta, in the chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (or COPD) segment. Revlar/Breo and Incruse Ellipta currently account for close to 15% of the open triple market in the respiratory segment.

On November 1, 2017, GlaxoSmithKline announced results that demonstrated the superiority of its dual bronchodilator, Anoro Ellipta, over another fixed dose LAMA/LABA therapy, Stiolto Respimat, in improving lung function for symptomatic COPD patients. This head-to-head study has helped in differentiating Anoro Ellipta in the once-a-day LAMA/LABA class of drugs for COPD patients. GlaxoSmithKline accounts for around 0.44% of the Vanguard Total World Stock ETF’s (VT) total portfolio holdings.

The above diagram shows GlaxoSmithKline’s expectations about the evolution of its respiratory segment by 2020. With the launch of multiple new products, the company expects to pose strong competition to other respiratory segment players such as Novartis (NVS), Teva Pharmaceuticals (TEVA), and Mylan (MYL).

Anoro Elipta earned revenues of close to 233 million pounds in the first nine months of 2017, which is 77% year-over-year (or YoY) growth on a reported basis and 63% YoY growth on a constant exchange rate (or CER) basis. Anoro Ellipta witnessed revenues of close to 86 million pounds in 3Q17, which is a YoY rise of 62% on a reported basis and 57% on a CER basis.

Incruse Elipta earned revenues close to 140 million pounds in the first nine months of 2017, which is 84% year-over-year (or YoY) growth on a reported basis and 71% YoY growth on a constant exchange rate (or CER) basis. Incruse Ellipta witnessed revenues close to 56 million pounds in 3Q17, which is a YoY rise of more than 100% on both a reported basis as well as a CER basis.

GlaxoSmithKline witnessed unfavorable true-up adjustments from previous quarters in the sales of Anoro Ellipta in 3Q17. The total prescriptions for Anoro Ellipta rose YoY by around 70% in 3Q17. The new-to-brand prescriptions for Anoro Ellipta and Incruse Ellipta rose YoY by close to 38% in 3Q17.

In the next article, we will discuss growth trends for Trelegy Ellipta in greater detail.