Did Genzyme Drive Sanofi’s Growth in 2Q15?

An Investor’s Guide to Sanofi's 2Q15 Earnings

(Continued from Prior Part)

The Genzyme franchise

As discussed earlier, Sanofi’s (SNY) 2Q15 revenues were mainly driven by Genzyme and generics. Unlike the diabetes franchise, Genzyme sales increased 26.6% in 2Q15 to 907 million euros, driven by strong performance of Aubagio and Lemtrada. Genzyme is further sub-categorized into two groups: multiple sclerosis and rare diseases.

Rare diseases

The rare diseases franchise includes drugs like Cerezyme, Myozyme, and Febrazyme used to treat some diseases like Gaucher disease. The rare diseases subsegment reported revenues of 647 million euros in 2Q15, an increase of 9.1% over 2Q14.

Multiple sclerosis

Sanofi’s Aubagio and recently launched Lemtrada are the company’s two drugs to treat multiple sclerosis. Multiple sclerosis drugs reported revenues of 260 million euros in 2Q15, an increase of more than 118% over 2Q14.

Aubagio is a once-daily prescription medicine used to treat relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis. Aubagio sales grew by 80.4% to 204 million euros due to increased sales in the US and Western Europe.

Aubagio competes with drugs like Copaxone from Teva Pharmaceuticals (TEVA), Tysabri from Biogen (BIIB), and Gilenya from Novartis AG (NVS).

Lemtrada is also used for the treatment of relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis. Lemtrada sales were 56 million euros, including 29 million euros in the US where Lemtrada was introduced at the end of 2014.

Investors can consider ETFs like the Health Care Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLV) or the Market Vectors Pharmaceutical ETF (PPH) in order to divest the risk.

Continue to Next Part

Browse this series on Market Realist:

• Part 1 - What Was the Market Response to Sanofi’s 2Q15 Earnings?

• Part 2 - What Drove Sanofi’s Growth in 2Q15?

• Part 3 - How Pricing Affected Sanofi’s Diabetes Franchise in 2Q15