While Sanofi’s immunology megablockbuster Dupixent predictably dominated the company’s sales charts in 2024, a new golden child could be emerging in the form of Beyfortus.
During its first full year on the market, the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) antibody easily broke the $1 billion sales threshold. Plus, the drug still has plenty of room left to grow in places like the U.S., Sanofi executives said on an analyst call Thursday.
All told, Beyfortus generated 1.7 billion euros (about $1.8 billion) in worldwide sales last year, with most of that haul coming from Europe, Sanofi noted in a press release.
Sanofi shares Beyfortus with AstraZeneca. The partners first linked up on the drug in 2017 in a deal that puts AstraZeneca in charge of development and manufacturing, while Sanofi manages marketing and revenue recognition. Last April, the partners updated their agreement to give Sanofi “full commercial control” over Beyfortus in the U.S.
Fourth-quarter Beyfortus sales were as high as those in the first three quarters of 2024 combined, Sanofi CEO Paul Hudson said during the company’s Thursday investor call. More than 6 million babies around the world have now received Sanofi and AZ's preventative antibody, he added.
Beyfortus’ performance helped grow Sanofi’s vaccine business by 13.5% to more than 8 billion euros ($8.3 billion), which Hudson touted as a record for the division.
Much of the antibody’s success last year can be chalked up to significant supply increases after shortage issues cropped up earlier in the drug's launch, Sanofi’s head of vaccines, Thomas Triomphe, explained on the call.
Thanks to those amped-up manufacturing efforts, Sanofi was able to deliver enough Beyfortus doses in 2024’s fourth quarter to cover its bases for that earnings period and for the first quarter of 2025, Triomphe explained.
Still, when it comes to overall Beyfortus market penetration, “there is an opportunity to increase in the U.S. this year,” Triomphe said.
Apart from Beyfortus, Dupixent was once again the guest of honor at Sanofi’s earnings presentation, with the immunology drug exceeding an internal 13 billion euros sales target for the year. As for the fourth quarter specifically, the Regeneron-partnered antibody managed to grow sales 16% to 3.5 billion euros ($3.6 billion).
Sanofi expects Dupixent to continue to grow its reach in 2025, thanks in large part to the med’s recent approval in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
While Sanofi is still in the early stages of Dupixent’s COPD launch, the company has already received positive feedback from patients and prescribers, with Hudson calling 2025 “the inflection point” for Dupixent’s trajectory in the new indication.
Meanwhile, hemophilia A drug Altuviiio reached nearly a quarter of a billion euros in sales in the fourth quarter, with Sanofi crediting that growth to an increasing number of patients switching over from both factor and non-factor therapies, Hudson said.
“We are confident in our expectations that Altuviiio will become a blockbuster this year,” he added.
Overall, Sanofi grew fourth-quarter sales 10.3% at constant currencies to 10.6 billion euros ($11 billion). Over the course of the entire year, Sanofi’s sales climbed 11.3% to 41.1 billion euros (nearly $43 billion).
For 2025, Sanofi currently expects sales to grow sales by a mid-to-high single-digit percentage at constant currencies. The company also said it’s looking forward a “strong rebound” in earnings per share this year.
Regarding the financial challenges and opportunities in store for Sanofi in 2025, chief financial officer François Roger noted that the company only expects to face “modest headwinds” from changes to the U.S. Medicare Part D program, which went into effect at the start of the year.
The company is also looking to “simplify” its drug portfolio, with Sanofi expecting to save about 250 million euros this year from asset disposals, Roger said.
Meanwhile, Sanofi should soon have some extra cash on hand thanks to the expected sale of a controlling stake in its consumer health business Opella to private equity firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice.
The company is in line to receive a payout in the high single-digit billions in euros, Roger said, adding that Sanofi also plans to retain a more than 48% stake in the over-the-counter business unit.
As for where the French pharma plans to channel its cash in 2025, Roger noted that Sanofi continues to explore external opportunities, though he caveated that the company is most comfortable with deals in the 2 billion euro to 5 billion euro ballpark.
Roger stressed that Sanofi will be able to make those potential business development (BD) decisions “without any pressure,” given the company’s current growth outlook and strong internal pipeline.
“We don’t feel any pressure to go crazy on M&A and BD,” he said.