MORGANTOWN — Mylan reported on Wednesday that its second-quarter revenues were down 5 percent compared to a year ago.
While worldwide sales are up, Mylan said, the decline can be attributed to sales shrinkage in North America, where ongoing transformation of the healthcare system is affecting markets.
Mylan’s board of directors separately announced that it is forming a strategic review committee to consider alternatives for dealing with the North American sales decline.
Mylan’s second-quarter sales (April 1-June 30) were $2.81 billion, down 5 percent from $2.96 billion in the second-quarter 2017. North American sales were $1 billion, down 22 percent from 2017’s $1.28 billion.
In contrast, European sales were up 4 percent, from $954 million to $990 million; Rest of World sales rose 10 percent, from $692.6 million to $764.1 million.
The reduced overall sales led stockholders to see reduced earnings per share, $1.07 this quarter compared to $1.10 in second-quarter 2017.
Mylan CEO Heather Bresch said: “During the second quarter, Mylan continued to do its part to expand access to medicine around the world. Our Europe and Rest of World segments continue to deliver growth in line with our expectations.
“However, our efforts to serve patients in the U.S. have been shaped by the industry’s transformation there, and our results and guidance for 2018 are directly correlated with the ongoing rebasing of the U.S. healthcare environment.”
Mylan said the U.S. sales declines were due in part to EpiPen sales and issues at the Morgantown plant.
“This decrease was due primarily to significantly lower volumes on existing products, including EpiPen, partially offset by new product sales,” it said.
“The decline in volumes was primarily driven by the timing of purchases of our products by customers and actions associated with the restructuring and remediation program at the Morgantown manufacturing facility, including the discontinuation of a number of products and the significantly negative impact on production levels, product supply and operations. Pricing also declined slightly when compared to the prior year,” according to a Mylan press release.
Bresch expressed optimism for the company as a whole.
“The fundamentals of Mylan’s global business remain strong,” she said. “We’re especially confident in our ability to deliver on Mylan’s long-stated global strategy, which is predicated on driving access to medicine through scale, a diversified portfolio and geographic reach. The result is a durable global business capable of delivering on our mission for years to come.”
The board, in its announcement, said international sales account for more than 60 percent of Mylan’s total business.
“These global growth expectations are in contrast to the negative trends and dynamics playing out in the U.S. market place — which we believe are unsustainable for the healthcare system over the long-term but which we believe Mylan is uniquely well positioned to successfully weather and navigate,” the announcement read.
The board said, “We believe that the U.S. public markets continue to underappreciate and undervalue the durability, differentiation and strengths of Mylan’s global diversified business, especially when compared to our peers around the globe.”
That under-appreciation is the reason for creating the strategic review committee, which is “actively evaluating a wide range of alternatives to unlock the true value of our one-of-a-kind platform.”
The board said it hasn’t set a timetable for its evaluation of alternatives “and there can be no assurance that any alternative will be implemented.”
The Dominion Post called Mylan to seek elaboration on the scope of the committee’s work, but a spokeswoman said she could not comment beyond the text of the statement.
