Gerresheimer supplies the top two in weight-loss drugs, CEO says

[April 11, 2024]  By Louis van Boxel-Woolf

(Reuters) -German packaging and medical equipment maker Gerresheimer has contracts with the leading players in the burgeoning weight-loss drugs sector, CEO Dietmar Siemssen said after the company reported first-quarter earnings on Thursday.

While Gerresheimer's first-quarter adjusted core profit rose 3.7% to 80.9 million euros ($86.9 million), the plastics and devices division that makes injector pens stole the show with a 26.5% jump to 59.3 million euros.

Injectors are used to administer the blockbuster GLP-1 appetite suppresant drugs produced by Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly. Such drugs are expected to bring at least 350 million euros of annual revenue for Gerresheimer within three years, Siemssen said last month without naming specific customers.

"We are serving all key players in the market for GLP-1, as there are, in the market, primarily only two key players," he said on Thursday. "The sales that you see at the moment are a result of deliveries to these two customers."

Berenberg analyst Victoria Lambert said the company's revenue ambitions seemed realistic, given Gerresheimer's production ramp-ups and contracts won so far.

Vials produced by Gerresheimer are displayed at the annual Drug, Chemical & Associated Technologies Association (DCAT) week in New York City, U.S., March 19, 2024. REUTERS/Patrick Wingrove/File Photo

Gerresheimer also reiterated the guidance it had issued at full-year results in February, forecasting core profit of between 430 million and 450 million euros for the year.

($1 = 0.9311 euros)

(Reporting by Louis van Boxel-Woolf and Isabel DemetzAdditional Reporting by Isabel Demetz and Anneli PalmenEditing by Kim Coghill, Varun H K, David Goodman and Kevin Liffey)

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