By Bhanvi Satija
LONDON, July 30 (Reuters) – Sanofi raised its full-year sales forecast on Thursday, on the back of strong demand for blockbuster asthma drug Dupixent and newer products in the French drugmaker’s first results under new CEO Belen Garijo.
Garijo has taken the helm at a time when the company faces pressure to revive drug development and secure growth beyond Dupixent. Its shares, down 3.4% so far this year, after falling about 12% in 2025, are trading at a discount to European rivals, such as AstraZeneca, Novartis and Roche.
Sanofi is looking for opportunities to grow through acquisitions, but its focus areas of immunology, rare diseases, and vaccines will not change and it will remain “very disciplined” about new deals, Garijo told reporters.
“The strategic review of our late-stage pipeline is still ongoing,” Garijo said, adding she was no longer in a “diagnosis phase” and would maintain a fast pace of decision-making.
Since taking charge in May, Garijo has overhauled her executive team to simplify decision making, which includes an expanded role for chief financial officer François-Xavier Roger, who will now also be in charge of business development.
Roger said that while the company had historically targeted acquisitions in the $2 billion to $5 billion range, it now holds “a little bit of a larger view,” though transaction size was not a key criterion.
R&D OVERHAUL
“Realizing our full potential will require greater scientific rigor,” Garijo said. She has appointed Paulo Fontoura to lead Sanofi’s R&D effort, and the former Roche executive will start in his role from September 1.
Last week, Sanofi dropped plans to seek approval for an experimental eczema drug, amlitelimab, once seen as a possible Dupixent successor. The drugmaker reported a €952 million ($1.09 billion) impairment charge in the first half of the year related to the drug.
The company said on Thursday it had also decided to scrap development of two more experimental drugs, itepekimab, for a lung condition, and balinatunfib, for psoriasis.
Research and development expenses for the quarter rose 18% to €2.23 billion, and included more than €200 million in wind-down costs.
SECOND QUARTER BEAT
Sanofi now expects sales to grow by 10% at constant exchange rates in 2026, compared with its previous forecast of high single digits. It continues to expect business operating income to grow slightly faster than sales.
Shares of the drugmaker fell 2.5% after results.
“We believe some investors may have been hoping for a more significant strategic update from the new CEO,” Barclays analysts wrote in a note.
The lack of a “splash” and cuts to drug development pipeline could offset any boost to its shares from the improved sales outlook, they said.
Second-quarter business operating income was €3.29 billion ($3.77 billion) compared with analyst average estimates of €2.96 billion provided by the company.
Quarterly revenue came in at €11.60 billion, above the €10.85 billion estimate.
Sales of Dupixent, on which it partners with Regeneron, rose 38% to €5.15 billion, at constant exchange rates, exceeding estimates of €4.48 billion.
Sanofi expects annual sales of €25 billion in 2030 for Dupixent, while analysts project sales of €24.2 billion.
Sales from newer launches, which include Altuviiio for hemophilia and multiple myeloma treatment Sarclisa, grew 48.3% to €1.3 billion for the second quarter.
($1 = 0.8735 euros)
(Reporting by Bhanvi Satija; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman, Clarence Fernandez and Tomasz Janowski)
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