Faced with a competitive market, Sanofi has sought to differentiate its influenza vaccines in recent years, winning US Food and Drug Administration approval for the high-dose trivalent and quadrivalent forms of its Fluzone for use in people 65 years and older.
Fluzone High-Dose Quadrivalent, which won FDA approval late in 2019, is the only high-dose inactivated influenza vaccine licensed in the US, providing Sanofi with a point of differentiation versus products such as GSK’s FluLaval Quadrivalent.
Having differentiated its portfolio, Sanofi has begun focusing on the value of vaccine sales, which is set to hit a new high this year, rather than the volume of products it sells. Thomas Triomphe, head of vaccines at Sanofi, set out the thinking behind the switch in focus on a July 28 conference call to discuss second quarter results at the French drugmaker.
“It’s been a while since we stopped talking about volume,” said Triomphe. “What we’re really looking at is how we contemplate value. So, each time we are talking about a record full year, it’s about sales. We pivoted from standard dose vaccines a few years ago to deliver differentiated flu vaccines that provide protection beyond flu endpoint itself. The market is totally recognizing the value of those products, and, therefore, each time we’re talking about a record value it’s in sales.”
Sanofi’s influenza vaccine sales hit €2.6bn ($2.7bn) last year, up 6.3% on a reported basis. Triomphe expects Sanofi to top that figure, itself a record for Sanofi, in the current year.