Sanofi's recent stock rout underscores the pressure on the French drug maker to redouble its efforts in the hunt for new medicines.
Chief Executive Paul Hudson is entering his fourth year at the helm next month and has presided over a number of setbacks, most recently the failure of breast cancer pill amcenestrant, which Sanofi had touted as having strong commercial potential.
The ensuing drop in the share price compounded losses from an investor scare over litigation linked to alleged cancer risks of heartburn drug Zantac days earlier, resulting in a more than 14% slump over eight days.
My belief is that (the stock price) recovery will come because of an incredible disconnect between the fundamentals of the company and its valuation, finance chief Jean-Baptiste de Chatillon told Reuters on Wednesday.
He cited remaining drug candidates under development as well as strong financial performance thanks to fast-growing bestseller Dupixent, Sanofi's star eczema and asthma treatment.
The growth will be fuelled again by very strong assets coming up, said de Chatillon, pointing to a haemophilia drug project and potential new treatment for childhood respiratory infections.
For Markus Manns, portfolio manager at Germany-based Union Investment, which holds Sanofi stock, this is misplaced optimism following the failure of amcenestrant.
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