Sanofi’s first quarter earnings edges past estimates ahead of CEO change

By Bhanvi Satija and Mariam Sunny

LONDON, April 23 (Reuters) – French drugmaker Sanofi on Thursday reported first-quarter profit and revenue above market expectations, boosted by resilient demand for its blockbuster asthma and eczema drug Dupixent.

The company also reaffirmed its expectations of a high single-digit percentage sales growth at constant currency rates for the year, with business operating income expected to grow slightly faster than sales.

Sanofi’s results come months after the sudden ouster of former CEO Paul Hudson in February after he failed to revive the company’s drug pipeline and was hit by a string of disappointing trial updates for alternatives expected to reduce reliance on Dupixent.

New CEO Belén Garijo is set to take the top job at the end of April.

Sanofi shares fell nearly 12% last year, and investors are closely watching Garijo, a former Sanofi executive who later became CEO of Germany’s Merck for a clear plan to improve R&D productivity and reduce dependence on Dupixent.

“The arrival of Belén (Garijo) will be an occasion …to revisit if we want to expand into potentially other therapeutic areas,” chief financial officer François-Xavier Roger said on a call with journalists.

Paris-based Sanofi reported total sales of 10.51 billion euros ($12.29 billion) for the quarter ended March 31, 2026. Analysts on average expected sales of 10.22 billion euros, compiled by Vara Research.

Quarterly business operating income was 2.97 billion euros ($3.47 billion), beating average analyst estimates of 2.85 billion euros.

Sales of Dupixent, developed with U.S. partner Regeneron, rose 30.8% at constant exchange rates to 4.17 billion euros ($4.88 billion).

Analysts had expected first-quarter Dupixent sales of 3.89 billion euros.

The vaccines division posted sales of 1.3 billion euros ($1.52 billion), slightly above expectations of 1.29 billion euros, as demand for combined polio and pertussis vaccines partly offset weaker sales of flu and RSV shots.

Vaccine sales, including RSV therapy Beyfortus, have been volatile in recent quarters. Sanofi expects vaccine sales to decline slightly this year, partly due to changes in U.S. vaccine policy under Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

($1 = 0.8543 euros)

(Reporting by Bhanvi Satija in London and Mariam Sunny in Bengaluru; Editing by Nivedita Bhattacharjee)