Teva posted gains in sales and earnings in the second quarter as strong growth in the US offset a weaker operating environment in Europe.
The world’s largest generic drug company said revenues came in at $5bn, a rise of 19 per cent over the same period of 2011, thanks to underlying organic growth and the addition of products from recently-acquired Cephalon into Teva’s branded division.
Net income surged 50 per cent to $863m, with numbers helped by the launch of new generics in the US market, such as anxiety and depression drug escitalopram, modafinil for narcolepsy, antipsychotic quetiapine and blood pressure drug valsartan.
The US business put in a buoyant quarter after a challenging period in recent months, with revenues up 28 per cent to $2.5bn, while Europe’s contribution was flat at $1.5bn in the face of austerity measures in the Eurozone and despite the inclusion of Cephalon’s product portfolio.
“We remain on track to reach our financial goals for the year,” said Teva chief executive Jeremy Levin, who added that the company is “looking forward to rebuilding shareholder value over time”.
Multiple sclerosis drug Copaxone (glatiramer acetate) gained 12 per cent to reach $982m thanks to a 15 per cent price increase in the US and the take-back of distribution and marketing rights from Sanofi in Europe, as well as increased sales volumes in other markets.
The company has successfully defended Copaxone from patent challenges in the US and UK which it says should ensure exclusivity in the marketplace until September 2015. Meanwhile, it is working to extend the drug’s indications with the submission of data from a phase II trial looking at a new dosing regimen in patients with the relapsing-remitting form of the disease early next year.
Other strong performers were Parkinson’s disease drug Azilect (rasagiline), up 36 per cent to $95m, while Cephalon products Treanda (bendamustine) for leukaemia and narcolepsy treatment Nuvigil (armodafinil) added $139m and $91m, respectively.
Summing up the quarter’s performance, Levin noted that “the US generics business continued to recover with a positive trend, our global branded division experienced strong growth, and our European generics business, while down from last year’s second-quarter results due to macroeconomic conditions, showed solid sequential growth from the first quarter”.