Ipsen hails progress in first quarter of 2012

Ipsen has expressed satisfaction with its financial performance in the first quarter of 2012, with group sales rising by 1.4 percent year over year.

The company's revenue total for the period came to 292.8 million euros (237.8 million pounds), with strong growth of specialty care products helping to offset a decline in primary care sales.

Double-digit growth was observed for the key products Somatuline and Dysport, which were up by 17.5 percent and 15.8 percent respectively, thus supporting Ipsen's decision to focus on differentiated peptides and toxin strengths.

The company is also progressing with the reorganisation of its US operations, which will help position it for further growth.

Marc de Garidel, chairman and chief executive officer of Ipsen, said: "While delivering on sales, the group is progressing on its milestones … We are focused on overcoming our industrial challenges and on setting up the best sustainable solution for the group's French primary care activity."

This comes after the company achieved year-on-year sales growth of 5.4 percent last year.