STOCKS NEWS EUROPE-Glaxo slips on new asthma drug warnings
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK.L) shares fall 1 percent after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration takes steps to cut the use of certain asthma drugs because of serious health risks, hitting prospects for the company’s top-seller Advair.
The move also affects products from AstraZeneca (AZN.L) and Novartis (NOVN.VX), but Glaxo is most vulnerable because its two-in-one inhaler is the market leader, with global sales of $7.8 billion in 2009.
Analysts at Morgan Stanley say the tighter rules are likely to push Advair volume growth back into negative territory.
“We see a likely worst-case impact as up to around 3 percent downgrade to 2011 sales and around 7 percent impact to EBIT,” they say in a note. Glaxo also faces a key Advair patent trial in Germany on Feb. 23.
Tags: Asthma, glaxosmithkline