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Biotech / Medical : GLAXO (GLX) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Henry Niman who wrote (206)	2/18/1999 10:09:00 AM
From: Zoltan!	Respond to of 222

Glaxo Wellcome Plc Dow Jones Newswires -- February 18, 1999 Glaxo Wellcome's New Drugs End Post-Zantac Earnings Void By Michael Reid LONDON (Dow Jones)--By boasting robust growth in new drugs and showing explosive gains in its key respiratory portfolio, Glaxo Wellcome PLC (GLX) convinced investors Thursday its post-Zantac earnings void is history. Observers had expected Glaxo's 1998 profit to slip about 5% as the company winced under the sales void created by the 1997 patent expiry of anti-ulcer drug Zantac, once the cornerstone of Glaxo's earnings. Sure enough, Zantac sales fell 42% as generic competitors decimated its market share. But Glaxo filled that chasm with double-digit sales growth in seven products and its HIV and migraine portfolios. To cap that, it boasted 24% sales growth in its biggest therapeutic area, respiratory drugs. That's almost five times the growth rate of the global respiratory market, and it firmly establishes Glaxo as the world leader in respiratory drugs. Asthma drugs Flixotide and Serevent led the charge with sales approaching GBP500 million each, with Flixonase for hay fever selling GBP273 million and Zyban for smoking cessation selling GBP100 million in its first full year on the market. "It is testimony to the depth and vitality of our portfolio of medicines, particularly in the disease areas of respiratory, anti-virals and the central nervous system, that we have been able to to absorb the largest single patent expiry our industry has ever seen," said Glaxo Chairman Richard Sykes. The company also said it remained committed to its double-digit underlying growth targets for 1999 sales and earnings. Glaxo shares, already trading at all-time high valuations, were up 30 pence, or 1.5%, at 2,023 pence by 1025 GMT. Glaxo's 1998 pretax profit fell only 1% to GBP2.67 billion, at the top end of market expectations and far healthier than the 20% decline at the half-year stage. In total, respiratory sales were GBP2.2 billion, about 27% of the group's total 1998 sales of GBP7.98 billion. Of that figure, non-Zantac sales now make up 91% of the group's total sales. Excluding Zantac, total sales were up 13% at constant exchange rates. "With Zantac now 9% of sales worldwide and just 6% in the important U.S. market, we can look to the future from a position of strength," said Chief Executive Robert Ingram. The company said the roll-out of five major drugs this year will further bolster this new strength. Those drugs are Ziagen and Agenerase for HIV, Seretide for asthma - already approved in Europe - Zeffix for Hepatitis B - recently approved in China - and Relenza for influenza, which was last week approved in Sweden and recommended for approval in Australia. In Glaxo's second-largest therapeutic area, anti-virals, sales were down 2% at constant exchange rates. After stripping out declining sales of Zovirax, the herpes blockbuster which also came off patent in 1997, however, sales were up 15% at constant currency, driven by the company's anti-HIV drugs. Among those, Combivir posted sales of GBP267 million on the back of successful launches in European markets. Epivir is still Glaxo's biggest selling anti-HIV drug, although sales were affected by patients switching to Combivir. In central nervous system drugs, Glaxo's third-largest portfolio, sales were up 32% at constant currency to GBP1.2 billion, driven by a strong U.S. performance and a 12% underlying gain in sales of the migraine portfolio to GBP732 million. Glaxo said that was particularly pleasing in light of the launch of three drugs from competitors during the year. Other CNS drugs which performed well included Wellbutrin for depression, with doubled sales to more than GBP300 million, and Lamictal for epilepsy, with a 37% sales gain to GPP177 million. The U.S. market is the key growth driver for most major international drug companies, because prescription sales are growing at more than double the rate in Europe. Earnings per share fell to 51.1 pence from 52 pence and the dividend rose to 36 pence from 35 pence. -By Michael Reid; 44-171-832-8163; mreid@ap.org wsj.com