Mylan's first-quarter profit rises, but sales increase misses estimates

Mylan announced Wednesday that first-quarter profit reached $66.4 million, up from $13.9 million in the year-ago period. Meanwhile, sales jumped 24 percent year-over-year to $2.7 billion, although the figure fell short of analyst estimates of $2.8 billion.

CEO Heather Bresch said the "results…marked a great start to what we believe will be another year of strong financial performance, and continue to reflect the strength and diversity of our global business and demonstrate our resilience and ability to absorb both our industry's natural volatility, as well as additional headwinds." The drugmaker noted that its first-quarter performance was boosted by products acquired as part of its takeover of Meda last year.

Mylan said that sales in North America rose by 5 percent to about $1.2 billion, although the drugmaker noted that sales climbed by 20 percent when excluding the impact of EpiPen. Meanwhile, revenue in Europe surged 53 percent versus the year-ago period to $892 million, with sales in the rest of the world rising by 34 percent to $580.5 million.

Mylan acknowledged that revenue from EpiPen declined in the first quarter due to the launch of its authorised generic, as well as increased competition. In January, Kaléo announced the re-launch of its epinephrine auto-injector Auvi-Q as part of a "first-of-its-kind" patient access programme. Further, CVS Health unveiled plans to offer Impax Therapeutics' Adrenaclick at an 80-percent discount to the cash price for EpiPen.

Meanwhile, Mylan is being investigated by the US Federal Trade Commission, with the company agreeing last year to pay $465 million to resolve a probe by the US Justice Department concerning the classification of EpiPen under Medicaid. Additionally, the company in March initiated a recall of potentially defective EpiPen devices in select markets that was later expanded to include the US and other global markets.

Mylan also reiterated prior full-year guidance of per-share earnings in the range of $5.15 to $5.55 on revenue of between $12.25 billion and $13.75 billion. "Our overall expectations for the global pricing environment are unchanged and we are still predicting mid-single digit price erosion globally for the year," commented Mylan president Rajiv Malik.