GlaxoSmithKline reports generic competition sales impact

Pharmacy supplier GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) has said that its first quarter sales were hit by the entrance of generic competitors to the market.

The healthcare giant said that whilst its performance in the first three months of 2008 was in line with expectations, generic competition led to a 13.7 per cent decline in net profits.

Sales of the firm’s asthma treatment Seretide/Advair rose ten per cent on last year’s Q1 figures, as did sales of its vaccines.

Consumer healthcare sales were also up eight per cent.

However, in the US, generic attrition caused sales of other drugs whose patents have expired – including the heart medication drug Coreg – to fall substantially.

JP Garnier, chief executive of GSK, said: “We continue to see sustained growth from key areas of our business such as Seretide/Advair, vaccines and consumer.

“However, sales were impacted by generic competition and declines in Avandia sales.”

Sales of Avandia, GSK’s controversial diabetes drug, fell 56 per cent after clinical trials revealed that the drug carried risk of heart attacks.

Meanwhile GSK has announced plans to acquire Sirtris Pharmaceuticals Incorporated in a bid to boost its research efforts in areas such as neurology, immunology and inflammation.