Drug maker Richterʼs earnings lifted in Q2
Image by LaMography/Moni Lazar
Second-quarter net income of Hungarian drugmaker Gedeon Richter nearly tripled to HUF 24.3 billion from HUF 8.4 bln in the base period, boosted by financial gains, an earnings report released early today shows.
Revenue fell 3% to HUF 110.5 bln. Gross profit fell around the same rate to HUF 64.8 bln. But operating profit rose 8% to HUF 18 bln as administration and R&D costs fell. Richterʼs bottom line was supported by an HUF 8.2 bln net financial gain, improving over an HUF 8.3 bln loss in the base period, national news agency MTI reported.
In H1, Richterʼs net income increased 35% year-on-year to HUF 38.8 bln. Revenue edged down 1% to HUF 224.4 bln, but gross profit inched up nearly 1% to HUF 130.3 bln as margins improved. Operating profit rose 8% to HUF 35.7 bln, boosted by milestone payments.
Net income was lifted further by a HUF 5.8 bln net financial gain, compared to a HUF 3.9 bln loss in the base period. Earnings per share for the period came to HUF 208.
H1 sales of Richterʼs uterine fibroid drug Esmya dropped 53% to HUF 6.4 bln because of temporary precautionary measures introduced as part of a review by the Pharmacovigilance Risk Assessment Committee (PRAC) of the European Medicines Agency into liver injury potentially related to the drug.
PRAC concluded in May that Esmya "may have contributed to the development of some cases of serious liver injury" and recommended that the medicine must not be used in women with known liver problems, but that other patients may start new treatment courses provided they have regular liver tests, and that Esmya should be used for more than one treatment course only in women who are not eligible for surgery.
The PRAC recommendations were endorsed by the EMAʼs Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) on June 1, and the European Commission adopted the opinion of CHMP on the Esmya referral on July 30, clearing the way for the relaunch of the product.
The restrictions on Esmya knocked it down to seventh place from third on Richterʼs list of best-selling products. At the top of the list in H1 were hormonal contraceptives, generating turnover of HUF 45.6 bln and the nootropic Cavinton, with sales of HUF 18.3 bln.
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