Earnings
Overall, Pfizer posted a good first quarter, with sales slightly higher and a 14 percent increase in profits due to lower restructuring costs and a significantly lower tax rate. However, revenue was below Wall Street expectations.
Paris-based Sanofi reported mixed first-quarter revenues, with net sales down 8.7 percent to 7,898 million euros. But Sanofi Genzyme sales were up 16.2 percent, mostly the result of its new immunology franchise.
The first quarter of 2018 for Vertex Pharmaceuticals was highlighted by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s February approval of Symdeko, a combination treatment for cystic fibrosis.
Alexion Pharmaceuticals closed out its first quarter plans to seek regulatory approval for its paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH) treatment, ALXN1210, which is considered the successor to the company’s blockbuster blood-disorder drug Soliris.
Humira, the world’s best-selling drug, keeps on churning out positive sales results for AbbVie, despite looming challenges.
Despite strong sales of shingles vaccine Shingrix, GlaxoSmithKline reported its sales and earnings fell 2 percent in the first quarter of the year, largely due to challenges in respiratory sales as well as significant currency impact.
Last week, the FDA’s advisory committee review of Eli Lilly and Incyte’s baricitinib for rheumatoid arthritis expressed safety concerns. Not surprisingly, the Arthritis Advisory Committee’s recommendation yesterday was mixed, split right along safety concerns.
Biogen saw a strong first quarter with 11 percent growth in revenues to $3.1 billion, which were spurred by gains in spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) treatment Spinraza and multiple sclerosis treatment Tecfidera.
Shares of Novartis are down nearly 3 percent this morning after the company reported a sharp decline in generic drugs and sales results from key branded medicines that missed analysts’ projections for the first quarter.
Abbott today announced financial results for the first quarter ending March 31, 2018 and is off to a strong start to the year.
PRESS RELEASES