(Bloomberg) -- A boon to Sanofi's profit and sales from the coronavirus outbreak will be short-lived as the pandemic hinders the drugmaker's efforts to get some medicines to patients.
The sales burst of the first quarter, when patients stocked up on diabetes and rare-disease medicines ahead of lockdowns, is waning, the Paris-based company said Friday. The pharma giant attributed about half of its 16% profit gain to Covid-19.
Sanofi's report also hinted at a worrisome trend that doctors have warned about: new patients not getting treatment for their ailments in the era of Covid-19.
There was a decline in new patients with multiple sclerosis starting on a medicine called Lemtrada due to Covid-19, Sanofi said. And efforts to launch a new cancer drug, Sarclisa, were slowed by the crisis.
Sanofi's mixed results highlight the pandemic's complex impact on the pharmaceutical industry. Like several rivals, the French drugmaker is also working on developing a vaccine, an effort that's costly but could prove very profitable.
Sanofi maintained its forecast for earnings to gain about 5% this year on expectations that the pharmaceutical giant will be able to withstand the outbreak's turmoil. Its shares were little changed in Paris trading, falling less than 1%.
©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
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