Drugmaker Sanofi raises 2021 profit guidance again after Q3 beat

French drugmaker Sanofi again raised its profit guidance for 2021 as its blockbuster eczema drug Dupixent and flu vaccines helped it beat market forecasts in the third quarter.

The group, which is hoping for a comeback after losing ground in the Covid-19 jab race, said sales in the three months to September grew 10.1% to 10.4 billion euros ($12.1 billion) while earnings per share came in at 2.18 euros. The latter compared with a 1.99 euros average forecast in an analyst consensus provided by the company.

Sanofi now expects earnings per share to climb by around 14% at constant currencies this year, up from a previous, already improved estimate for 12% growth released in July.

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Despite being one of the biggest makers of vaccines in the world by sales before the Covid-19 pandemic, Sanofi was beaten by newcomers who used newer mRNA technology to immunise people against coronavirus.

Sanofi stopped trials of its own mRNA Covid-19 jab last month, saying that it was too late to enter a market dominated by rivals BioNTech/Pfizer and Moderna.

It is instead focusing on efforts with British partner GlaxoSmithKline to bring another Covid-19 vaccine candidate to market based on the more conventional protein-based approach, where mass trials are ongoing.

Sanofi's Finance chief Jean-Baptiste de Chatillon told reporters the group was still expecting results from those trials by the end of the year.

($1 = 0.8618 euros)

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