Dive Brief:
- Despite the fact that GlaxoSmithKline CEO Andrew Witty said that the chances of generic Advair being introduced in 2016 is "vanishingly small," as reported by Reuters, the company has factored Advair genericization into its five-year forecast.
- Advair is intended to treat the symptoms of chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder (COPD) and asthma.
- Advair generates more than $2.2 billion per year in sales.
Dive Insight:
During a call with analysts, Witty noted that it is still unclear as to when generic Advair would arrive in the U.S., but that it would most likely be more than a year from now.
Taking a conservative approach, Glaxo estimated that Advair sales could fall to less than $457 million per year by 2020 if generics enter the market. And beyond looking simply at Advair sales, GSK forecasted that pharmaceutical sales would grow at a low single digit annual rate between 2016 and 2020.
A successor of sorts is making its way towards the market, although it's unclear if it can make up for lost Advair ground. The FDA approved GSK/Theravance's Breo Ellipta earlier this month.