France's Ipsen posts strong first-half 2010 growth for core pharma business

French drugmaker Ipsen (Euronext: IPN) reported a modest 2.2% rise in first half 2010 revenues to 585.7 million euros ($743.5 million). Drug sales were up by 6.3% year-on-year over the period to 553.9 million euros, driven by pharmaceutical sales, which stood at 537.8 euros (up 6.7%), while drug-related revenues declined 6.5% to 16.5 million euros. Operating income fell 13.9% to 116.6 million euros, with net income down 23.7% to 75.6 million euros.

Commenting on the performance, Jean-Luc Belingard, chairman and chief executive, said: "Once again, our first half 2010 results validate Ipsen's positioning with a double digit Specialist Care sales growth in oncology, neurology and endocrinology and a sustained intrinsic operating profitability, up 20.2%. In a difficult economic and changing pharmaceutical environment in its historical European markets, the Group continues its geographic expansion in the USA and in emerging markets. Furthermore, the group significantly expanded its therapeutic footprint with a major development in hemophilia thanks to its partnership with Inspiration Biopharmaceuticals in the USA [The Pharma Letter January 21], which could potentially - in the short and medium terms - provide the group with a comprehensive portfolio of clotting factor products.'

The company's presence in the North American market is slowly gaining momentum, with a sales increase of 33.7% and turnover reaching 27.5 million euros, while growth in the rest of the world remained strong, up 11.4%. Meanwhile, sales in the major Western European markets were flat at 283.4 million euros, with the UK and France reporting a low single-digit decline. However, this was mitigated by minor sales growth in markets such as Spain, Italy and Germany. The flat Western European sales have been attributed to competitive market conditions, especially in the French primary health care sector.