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 Chief Executive Andrew Witty said on Wednesday that the chances of
cheap copies of its highly profitable inhaled medicine reaching the
world's biggest market in 2016 were "vanishingly small".
For the first time, the drugmaker has factored in the introduction
of a generic alternative to Advair in the United States in making
assumptions about its sales prospects over the next five years.
Witty said this could in theory mean annual U.S. sales of Advair
falling to less than 300 million pounds ($457 million) by 2020, down
from 392 million pounds in the first quarter of 2015 or 1.57 billion
on an annualized basis.
However, Witty stressed at an analyst meeting that it was still
unclear if or when generics would arrive in the United States,
adding there had been "no change" in the company's view of the
likelihood of copycat versions being launched.
"Clearly, if there was no generic Advair in the U.S. that would be
an upside to the guidance we've given you for the pharmaceuticals
business," he said.
GSK expects pharmaceuticals sales to grow at a low single digit
annual rate between 2016 and 2020, with the possible introduction of
generic Advair in the U.S. factored in.
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($1 = 0.6560 pounds)
(Reporting by Ben Hirschler; Editing by Elaine Hardcastle)
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