GSK Q1: £450 Million in Generic Damage to CNS Category
GlaxoSmithKline’s Q1 2009 results should scare the living daylights out of companies that are heavily dependent on CNS products such as Shire (Vyvanse and Adderall), Forest Labs (Lexapro) and Eli Lilly (Cymbalta).
Generics shaved off 53 percent of GSK’s CNS drug sales, which were down £450 million. Every single CNS drug tanked, from Paxil to Imitrex.
Overall, GSK revenue rose 19 percent to £6.77 billion; net income was £1.13 billion, down from £1.31 billion a year ago.
It wasn’t a terrible quarter, although the market didn’t like it and GSK stock is sliding on the results. There was a bit of a bounceback in its sales productivity — the company now earns back $3.08 in revenues for every dollar it spends on marketing. That’s down from $3.31 a year ago, but up from 2Q 2008 when it was $2.53, after a lot of money was wasted on legal issues.
In anxious news for GSK’s American sales reps, U.S. sales declined 22 percent. The good news was all in Europe and Asia, and its OTC and supermarket brands.
- See BNET’s previous coverage of GSK:
- Allergan CEO Gets $15.7 Million Bonus if He Says Yes to GSK
- The GlaxoSmithKline-Allergan Deal Worst-Case Scenario
- NPR Producer: Goodwin Broke “Ironclad” Contract Over GSK Cash; Pitts Didn’t Disclose Ties
- FDA Gives GSK a Lesson in Prostate Geometry
- Ranking of 20 Drug Companies’ Sales Forces Shows Productivity Flat or Declining
- GSK Pulls Dominican Hepatitis Risk Ads After Political Pressure
- GSK, Again, Has a Legal Friend in Washington
- GSK Rapped in the UK for Tax Arrangements
- GlaxoSmithKline Layoffs: It’s All Colorado’s Fault
- GlaxoSmithKline: Look Who’s Not Getting Laid Off
- GSK Signs Wynonna Judd to Endorse Alli, Its Flagging Weight Loss Drug
Jim Edwards, a former managing editor of Adweek, has covered drug marketing at Brandweek for four years, and is a former Knight-Bagehot fellow at Columbia University's business and journalism schools. Follow him on Twitter or send him an email.
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