Ipsen sees 7.4% sales growth in 2005

France's Ipsen Group, which recently debuted on the Euronext stock market, has reported sales of 807.1 million euros ($975.5 million) for 2005, a rise of 7.4% on the previous year. The company said that this "upbeat performance was achieved in spite of price reductions introduced by various European governments during the period," and the firm "has achieved its sales targets," noted chief executive Jean-Luc Belingard.

He added that, "following the recovery of our rights to Reloxin (botulinum type A toxin; Marketletters passim), subject to completion of Allergan's acquisition of Inamed, we are now focusing on some of the key success factors for our expansion."

Sales deriving from targeted disease areas (oncology, endocrinology and neuromuscular disorders) amounted to 391.2 million euros in 2005, an increase of 10.4%. This rise was particularly significant in endocrinology, where growth ran at 20.4% on the back of the firm performances posted by Somatuline (lanreotide)/Somatuline Autogel, as well as the launch of NutropinAq (controlled-release somatropin) in many European countries. Turnover growth came to 12.4% in neuromuscular disorders and 6.0% in oncology, despite the negative impact of 4.8 million euros arising from enforced price reductions that affected Decapeptyl (triptorelin), notably in Italy, Spain, Belgium and the UK.