Pharma giants gaining big in 2022

French-based Sanofi sales reached almost €19.8 billion ($20.17 billion) in the first half of the year, up 14.2 per cent on a reported basis. Exchange rate movements had a positive effect of 5.8 percentage points. At constant exchange rates (CER), company sales were up 8.4 per cent. The group’s second-quarter sales growth of 8.1 per cent at CER was driven by allergy medicine Dupixent as well as vaccines and consumer healthcare.

Pharma giants gaining big in 2022,illustration photo/ freepik.com

Sanofi CEO Paul Hudson said, “Our performance in the second quarter was again marked by higher sales across our key growth drivers and outstanding financial results leading us to upgrade our business earnings per share guidance for the full year.”

While Sanofi continues to increase investment in research and development (R&D), Hudsen added that it is confident in the business outlook for the second half and reiterated the commitment to achieve the business operating income margin target of 30 per cent for the year.

In Vietnam, Sanofi is the only multinational in the pharmaceutical industry operating three factories at WHO-GMP standards, supplying 80 per cent of the company’s volume in the country.

Seeing growth potential in Vietnam, which is burdened with rising non-communicable diseases and growing healthcare demand, Sanofi is strengthening cooperation with local pharma firms, medical associations, hospitals, and universities.

In June, Sanofi-Aventis Vietnam signed a cooperation agreement with Vietnam’s FPT Long Chau to implement the Insulin Pen Sustainability Pilot Project, aiming at reducing plastic waste and creating a solution to properly dispose of used insulin pens in Vietnam.

In November 2021, Sanofi Group signed an MoU with Vinapharm to strengthen a partnership which was established in 1993. The company has also signed an MoU with BSB Nanotech to develop a new model of circular economy based on leading sustainable technology solutions.

Meanwhile, British-based GSK announced strong performance across speciality medicines, vaccines, and generic medicines in the first half of 2022. Total turnover in the period hit £14.1 billion ($17.1 billion).

Emma Walmsley, CEO of GSK, said, “With this momentum in sales and operating profit growth, we have raised our full-year guidance and are confident in delivering the long-term growth outlooks we set out for shareholders last year.”

Improvements in operating performance, together with a strengthened post-demerger balance sheet, are creating new capacity and flexibility for GSK to invest in growth and innovation for patients and shareholders, according to Walmsley.

GSK now expects 2022 sales to increase 6-8 per cent and adjusted operating profit to increase 13-15 per cent, excluding any contributions from COVID-19 solutions.

Like Sanofi, GSK is also intensifying cooperation with local pharma firms, medical associations, and hospitals to expand the presence of its products in the local market. The group in June collaborated with the Vietnam Medical Association to discuss the development of clinical practice for immunisation programmes for high-risk adults and pregnant women.

GSK Vietnam has also signed MoUs with National Phytopharma JSC and Vietnam Vaccine Company to deliver ambitious targets for a positive impact on the health of 30 million Vietnamese people by 2025.

The local pharma market is seeing a raft of similar agreements involving multinationals. A few weeks ago, Roche Pharma Vietnam signed an MoU with the University Medical Centre Ho Chi Minh City on improving the professional capacity of the hospital’s medical staff, strengthening cooperation with domestic and foreign oncology organisations and experts, and crafting activities for the benefit of patients and the community.

Roche Vietnam has also partnered with the Medical Service Administration to conduct a joint liver cancer management programme for 2022-2023; as well as working with Ho Chi Minh City Oncological Hospital to improve the professional capacity of the medical staff there.

The year has been rosy for Roche Group thus far as it achieved sales growth of 5 per cent and core operating profit growth of 9 per cent.

Swiss healthcare company Novartis continued its strong momentum of key growth brands. Its net sales were $25.3 billion in the first half of the year, driven by volume growth of 12 percentage points and price erosion of 4 percentage points.

Novartis CEO Vas Narasimhan confirmed that the group delivered a solid second quarter. “Our key in-market growth drivers with multi-billion sales potential each grew at least double digits. The performance of Sandoz in particular allows us to increase guidance for the full year and the strategic review is on track. We reconfirm our 2022 group guidance and our confidence in delivering consistent growth and margin expansion.”

As part of plans to expand in Vietnam, Novartis and the Ministry of Health in late 2021 signed an MoU to provide affordable medicines without a profit margin for the treatment of severe COVID-19 symptoms that help stabilise critically ill patients during the pandemic.

Currently, Novartis is focused on innovative medicines, oncology medicines, and high-quality generics and biosimilars. Since 2011, Novartis has been working with over 30 leading hospitals and nearly 1,000 doctors and pharmacists to conduct nearly 50 clinical trials in Vietnam with a total R&D investment of more than $10 million.

GSK’s strategy of sustainable healthcare In a new legal entity launch ceremony last week, GSK Vietnam signed MoUs with the Vietnam Medical Association, National Phytopharma JSC, and Vietnam Vaccine Company, aiming to deliver ambitious targets for a positive impact on the health of 30 million Vietnamese people by 2025.

Roche Pharma Vietnam ties up with UMC Roche Pharma Vietnam and the University Medical Centre Ho Chi Minh City have signed an MoU on July 14 on improving the professional capacity of the hospital’s medical staff, strengthening cooperation with domestic and foreign oncology organisations and experts, and activities for the benefit of patients and the community.

Overseas touch lends to pharma gains Vietnam’s pharma giants are growing with new strategies from foreign leadership, easing local doubts over the possible disappearance of local strong brands.

Are M&As still a top trend in the pharma market? After a significant decrease in the value of mergers and acquisitions (M&As) in Vietnam in 2018-2020, such activities have recovered in the past year. Ngo Thanh Hai and Nguyen Dieu Quynh from LNT & Partners offer their insight into the current M&A trend in the local pharmaceutical market.