BIG PHARMA EARNINGS WATCH: SANOFI, ASTRAZENECA, AMGEN, ELI LILLY

Big Pharma Giants Once Again Top Wall Street Expectations in Final Round of Second Quarter Earnings Reports While Continuing to Price-Gouge American Patients

Rounding out Big Pharma’s earnings calls for the second quarter, brand name drug makers Sanofi, AstraZeneca, Amgen and Eli Lilly all once again demonstrated that Big Pharma continues to surpass Wall Street analysts’ forecasts after engaging in prescription drug price hikes. Sanofi, AstraZeneca, Amgen and Eli Lilly all reported earnings that topped Wall Street expectations.

Sanofi

• Sanofi reported better-than-expected earnings for the second quarter, beating Wall Street analysts’ expectations.
• The Big Pharma company reported revenue of $10.85 billion in Q2, driven by sales of blockbuster anti-inflammatory eczema and asthma drug Dupixent.
• Dupixent generated $2.8 billion in Q2, surging more than 34 percent year-over-year.
• The drug maker raised its guidance for the full year following the better-than-expected report.

AstraZeneca

• AstraZeneca topped Wall Street analysts’ earnings and revenue forecasts in the second quarter.
• AstraZeneca reported second-quarter profit of $1.82 billion and revenue of $11.42 billion.
• The UK’s biggest company by market capitalization – worth more than $211 billion – adds to a string of strong quarters with profit up 25 percent.
• The company’s earnings beat was driven by a strong performance from lung cancer drug Imfinzi and lymphoma treatment Calquence, posting combined sales of $1.73 billion, up more than 20 percent over the previous quarter.

Amgen

• Amgen reported earnings that beat Wall Street expectations, reporting second-quarter net income of $1.38 billion.
• The drugmaker posted revenue of $6.99 billion in Q2 2023.
• Product sales of Amgen’s osteoporosis medication Prolia totaled $1.03 billion in Q2, up 11 percent year-over-year.
• Amgen also raised its revenue and earnings guidance for the full year.

Eli Lilly

• Lilly topped Wall Street analysts’ revenue forecasts, reporting Q2 revenue of $8.31 billion.
• The drug maker also beat earnings estimates, reporting $1.76 billion for the quarter.
• Lilly raised its guidance again for the year with 2023 revenue projected to top $33 billion.
• New products contributed $1 billion in revenue in Q2 2023, driven by blockbuster diabetes drug Mounjaro, with 2023 revenue projections topping $1 billion – on track to become the company’s third best-selling drug.
• The Big Pharma giant also received a significant boost of $579 million from the sales of its COVID-19 antibody treatment.

The strong earnings come as all four drug makers have implemented price hikes in 2023 and have a history of engaging in anti-competitive tactics.

Sanofi

• Sanofi has hiked prices on 40 prescription drugs so far in 2023, including blockbuster drug Dupixent by six percent.
• Sanofi hiked prices on more than 30 prescription drugs in January 2022 – and engaged in an additional round of price hikes last July.
• Sanofi hiked prices on multiple sclerosis drug Aubagio and rheumatoid arthritis drug Kevzara by seven percent at the start of last year.
• Sanofi is one of three Big Pharma companies that dominate the insulin market and worked in lockstep for decades to increase prices on the life-saving drug, through an egregious practice called “shadow pricing.”

AstraZeneca

• AstraZeneca has hiked prices on 25 prescription drugs so far in 2023.
• The brand-name drug maker hiked prices on 27 medications in 2022, including on at least eight drugs last summer.
• In 2021, AstraZeneca increased prices on 19 different drugs – including on hyperkalemia drug Lokelma and blockbuster drug Symbicort.

Amgen

• Amgen started 2023 by raising prices on more than 20 prescription drugs, including plaque psoriasis drug Otezla by 7.4 percent.
• Amgen hiked prices on 33 prescriptions in 2022, including a 4 percent increase on popular rheumatoid arthritis drug Enbrel.
• A recent U.S. House Committee on Oversight report found that Amgen hiked prices of blockbuster drugs Enbrel and Sensipar to meet revenue targets.

Eli Lilly

• Lilly started 2023 by raising prices on 15 prescription drugs, including top-selling diabetes drug Trulicity by five percent.
• This July, Lilly hiked the price of its blockbuster cancer drug, Cyramza, by two percent.
• The company began last year with more than a dozen price hikes, including another five percent increase on Trulicity.
• Last summer, Lilly increased the price of its COVID-19 antibody treatment by an estimated 14 percent as coverage shifted to the commercial market from the U.S. government.

Read more on Q2 earnings from Pfizer and Merck HERE.

Read more on Q2 earnings from GlaxoSmithKline and AbbVie HERE.

Read more on Q2 earnings from Novartis and Johnson & Johnson HERE.

Learn more about solutions to lower prescription drug prices and hold Big Pharma accountable HERE.