Drugs giant reveals anti-flu spray sales boost

GlaxoSmithKline revealed sales of a key treatment against a potential flu pandemic have rocketed since January – on the day a new outbreak of bird flu was confirmed in the UK.

The pharmaceuticals giant said sales of its anti-viral Relenza drug totalled £7m (€10m) in the first three months of this year – compared with £5m (€7.2m) for the whole of 2005.

Fewer than a million packs of Relenza were produced last year and Glaxo aims to ramp up production by 15 times to meet demand for more protection against flu viruses.

Relenza is a spray that patients inhale if they are suffering from symptoms of flu. Although it does not prevent the illness, it gives people a much greater chance of survival.

At the same time, Glaxo is continuing to investigate a vaccine against the deadly H5N1 virus of bird flu and the results from clinical trials in Germany are expected in the summer.

Details emerged as Glaxo unveiled a 17% hike in profits to £2.17bn (€3.1bn) at constant exchange rates, with revenues growing at the slower rate of 10% to £5.81bn (€8.3bn).

The driving forces were its portfolio of six blockbuster drugs that includes anti-depressant Paxil and asthma treatment Seretide, which saw sales cumulatively rise 22% to £2.2bn (€3.2bn).

There was a strong performance from its vaccines business where sales surged 44% to £366m (€526m).

Chief executive JP Garnier assured investors that sales were unlikely to suffer from the constraints on budgets in the NHS and other European health services that forced medical devices maker Smith & Nephew to warn on profits today.

Glaxo accounts for around a tenth of the total drugs bill of the NHS, but Mr Garnier said cutbacks on medicines would ultimately drive health costs higher.

“We are part of the solution not the problem,” he said, pointing out that the average cost of a prescription was £11 (€15.80) compared with £1,500 (€2,100) for a stay in hospital.

“If people stay away from hospitals then they save costs for the NHS.

“We have demonstrated this is in spades….saving admissions to psychiatrists wards with Paxil, saving middle-of-the-night hospitalisations with Seretide, I could go on.”