France's Boiron Strikes Deal With Bionorica As Q3 Sales Edge Up
Executive Summary
Boiron has gained the rights to distribute Bionorica's Canephron herbal medicine in France as it continues to diversify its portfolio away from homeopathy.
French homeopathy specialist Laboratoires Boiron has expanded its offering in its home market by securing the rights to distribute Bionorica’s herbal cystitis treatment Canephron.
Containing rosemary and lovage, Canephron is marketed by Bionorica in multiple markets around the world, and is particularly popular in Germany. (Also see "Germany’s OTC Market in 2018: Online Sees Double-Digit Growth, Bionorica’s Canephron Uno Tops New Launches" - HBW Insight, 6 Feb, 2019.)
Noting that both companies were active in the field of plant science for health, Boiron said it was discussing with Bionorica opportunities for entering into a long-term partnership.
The deal with Bionorica follows similar moves by Boiron to diversify its offering following the decision to delist homeopathy from health insurance coverage in France.
Earlier this year, Boiron expanded its portfolio in Spain by striking a distribution deal with OTC women’s health specialist Laboratoires Iprad and in 2020 the company announced a move into probiotics in partnership with Italian contract manufacturer Probiotica. (Also see "EU Business Round-Up: BioGaia Creates Investment Arm, Boiron Grows In Spain, GSK Ends Hikma Talks" - HBW Insight, 24 Mar, 2021.) (Also see "France's Boiron Diversifies Into Probiotics To Arrest Sales Decline" - HBW Insight, 5 Nov, 2020.)
Q3 Sales Edge Up
Boiron revealed its deal with Bionorica as it reported third-quarter sales up by 1.0% to €118m ($137m), as turnover advanced in all markets except for France.
In Europe, excluding France, turnover increased by 26% to €32.2m, while North American sales improved by 8.3% to €23.3m. Sales in other countries grew fastest, up by 39% to €4.2m.
As noted, sales in France declined by 13% to €58m, which Boiron attributed to the delisting of homeopathic medicines in the country.
Looking at the results by product category, group homeopathy sales fell by 9.4% to €45.8m, while turnover from OTC specialties improved by 8.5% to €71.4m. While sales of OTC products for winter illness had continued to decline, this had been more than offset by turnover from new products, Boiron noted, with strong growth in the US, Russia, Romania and Bulgaria.
Turning to the outlook for the remainder of the year, Boiron said it expected homeopathy sales to continue to decline in Q4, with OTC turnover expected to rise thanks to product launches and the recent raft of deals struck by the company.
For the full year, a “significant decline in revenues” was anticipated, Boiron noted.