The French drugmaker’s newly launched respiratory syncytial virus antibody Beyfortus far exceeded analyst expectations, bringing in almost $700 million in the third quarter. Leerink Partners analyst David Risinger in a Friday note to investors said Sanofi expects Q4 Beyfortus sales similar to Q3.
Sanofi released its third-quarter earnings report on Friday, beating consensus analyst estimates by 6% on the strong performance of its respiratory syncytial virus antibody Beyfortus.
In Q3, Beyfortus brought in nearly $700 million, representing a 381% year-over-year increase. The figure far exceeded consensus analyst projections, which anticipated only around $400 million in sales for the antibody.
Leerink Partners analyst David Risinger in a Friday note to investors highlighted Sanofi’s slides with expectations of Q4 Beyfortus sales similar to Q3 “which implies FY24 sales of approx. €1.5B—this appears to exceed the company’s prior guidance for Beyfortus to ‘reach blockbuster status.’”
Because of Beyfortus’ better-than-expected sales, Sanofi’s vaccines division also enjoyed 25% year-over-year growth, bringing in more than $4.1 billion in the quarter—and coming ahead of consensus forecasts by 19%. Aside from Beyfortus, Sanofi’s other vaccines also showed growth in Q3, including its meningitis and influenza shots.
“Our strong growth in the quarter was accelerated by the outstanding performance of our newly launched medicines,” CEO Paul Hudson said in an investor call Friday morning. “Beyfortus leads the way… showing an exceptional market uptake in its second season and underscoring the critical role it plays in infant protection.”
Sanofi has also “been able to secure supply” for Beyfortus, Hudson said, extending the protection against RSV “to millions of infants in about 20 countries where Beyfortus is currently launched.”
“We are on our way to make Beyfortus our next blockbuster thanks to its unique ability to provide full infant protection,” Hudson noted on the call.
Overall, Sanofi reported Q3 net sales of over $14.5 billion, which is a 15.7% increase from the same period last year, at constant exchange rates, and which surpassed analyst predictions by 6%.
Blockbuster anti-inflammatory antibody Dupixent, which is Sanofi’s top-earning asset, beat the analysts’ consensus by 1%. Dupixent generated more than $3.75 billion in Q3, representing 23.8% year-over-year growth, driven by continued strong demand in its approved indications such as atopic dermatitis and asthma. The antibody was approved for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in September 2024.
Sanofi on Friday announced that it has kicked off “exclusive negotiations to transfer a controlling stake” over its consumer healthcare brand Opella. The pharma earlier this week announced that it had struck a deal with a private equity firm to sell a 50% stake in Opella, which would put the standalone company’s value at around $17.3 billion. Sanofi will stay on as a significant shareholder.
Opella in Q3 saw a nearly 8% growth in sales, bringing in almost $1.38 billion in revenue. Still, the consumer healthcare brand fell short of analyst expectations, which had projected a $1.4 billion in earnings.
Driven by its strong sales in the quarter—and by the prospect of offloading Opella—Sanofi on Friday lifted its full-year business guidance. The pharma now expects EPS growth of at least a low single-digit percentage at constant exchange rates.
Sanofi anticipates several pipeline milestones in Q4, including mid-stage readouts for its oral BTK inhibitor rilzabrutinib in IgG4-mediated diseases and its anti-TL1A biologic duvakitug in inflammatory bowel diseases. The company is also working toward FDA filings for tolebrutinib in secondary progressive multiple sclerosis and Dupixent for chronic spontaneous urticaria.
On Friday, Sanofi was revealed as a new investor participating in the Series D funding round of Belgian biotech Agomab Therapeutics, which announced that it raised $89 million. The money will go toward the advancement of Agomab’s lead candidate AGMB-129, a gut-restricted oral small molecule ALK5 blocker, being developed for fibrostenosing Crohn’s disease.
Agomab will also use its Series D proceeds to support the inhaled small molecule AGMB-447, which is currently in Phase I studies and is being proposed as a treatment for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. The biotech is also advancing AGMB-101 for liver cirrhosis.
