STADA continues with double-digit sales and profit growth in 2023

STADA maintained its growth momentum in 2023 with double-digit sales and profit growth. Adjusted for currency fluctuations and special items, the Group increased its sales by 14% to €3.73 billion. Adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) improved by 19% to €802 million, aided by improved cost of goods, despite inflationary pressures, and strong supply reliability.

“Our performance continues to progress ahead of major competitors,” stated STADA CEO Peter Goldschmidt. “Our culture with entrepreneurial focus is delivering new launches from our extensive pipeline, on top of strong organic growth.”

Evidence of this culture – supported by the values of Integrity, Agility, Entrepreneurship and One STADA –came via 91% of all STADA colleagues voluntarily participating in a global employees’ survey conducted in November 2023, far exceeding industry benchmarks. STADA is also ahead of industry in the proportion of employees who are proud to work for the company (81%) and are confident the company will continue to achieve its business objectives (88%).

With growth from all product segments and all geographic regions in which STADA is conducting business, along with 95 business-development and licensing deals signed during 2023, STADA continued to deliver on its vision of being a partner of choice in Consumer Healthcare, Generics and Specialty while continuously outgrowing the industry in terms of sales and profit.

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Sales growth in 2023 was driven predominantly by STADA’s Consumer Healthcare product segment, which accounted for 40% of total Group sales. Consumer Healthcare sales advanced by 17% to €1.49 billion, thereby outperforming other top-10 competitors. This strengthened STADA’s position as Europe’s fourth-largest CHC supplier by sales, including having established market leadership in Germany through growth from brands such as Grippostad, Silomat, Multilind, Elotrans and Hoggar. The group also improved its Consumer Healthcare market position in many countries, including Belgium, France, Italy and Spain, as recently-acquired brands performed strongly.

STADA’s status as an appealing partner of choice for strong local Consumer Healthcare brands was demonstrated again in July 2023 through the acquisition of a basket of brands such as Antistax, Lomudal, Omnivit and Opticrom from Sanofi, building on an existing successful commercialisation partnership in 20 European countries.

Through an established number-four position in Europe’s retail generics market, STADA in 2023 advanced its Generics sales by 6% to €1.50 billion, equivalent to 40% of total Group sales. Launches such as the anticoagulant apixaban, the diabetes drug sitagliptin and the analgesic tapentadol, as well as tacrolimus fortransplantation and sugammadex for reversing the effect of muscle relaxants, contributed to this progress.

STADA’s fastest-growing product segment in 2023 was Specialty. Sales surged by 25% to €749 million, representing 20% of total Group sales as the Specialty portfolio accelerated. STADA in early 2023 achieved a further Specialty milestone with its entry into the European ophthalmology market through the launch of Ximluci, a biosimilar alternative to the reference brand Lucentis, in several countries such as Germany and the United Kingdom. Ximluci is STADA’s sixth marketed biosimilar, with previous launches such as Hukyndra (adalimumab), Oyavas (bevacizumab) and Movymia (teriparatide) continuing to gain traction. The Specialty segment also benefitted from supplying epoetin to the US following US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval of the STADA-controlled biologics facility in Uetersen, Germany.

Another landmark in Specialty came towards the end of 2023 with the first positive opinion issued by the European Medicines Agency for Uzpruvo (ustekinumab), STADA’s biosimilar to the blockbuster Stelara, which has annual sales in Europe of approximately €2.5 billion. This positive opinion was the precursor to a marketing authorization for ustekinumab, valid throughout the European Economic Area, being issued in January 2024.

Beyond biosimilars, STADA’s Lecigon pump, which is administered for the treatment of late-stage Parkinson’s disease, is now used by more than 1,300 patients in 18 countries. In nephrology, Kinpeygo, the first treatment approved in the EU for the rare and debilitating kidney disease IgA nephropathy, is reaching an increasing number of patients in Germany and was, at the end of 2023, recommended by the UK’s NICE agency for use within the country’s National Health Service.

STADA’s continued momentum in sustainable growth was reflected in December 2023 in an improved independent assessment of the Group’s environmental, social and governance (ESG) risk. Independent agency Sustainalytics ranked STADA among the top 6% of pharmaceutical companies worldwide in terms of ESG. This assessment of STADA compared with around 900 other pharmaceuticals companies worldwide reflects the group’s commitment to working as a trusted partner with society, customers, regulators and capital–market stakeholders to ensure that STADA has sound foundations for sustained success. 

“With our unique culture driving our performance, I am confident that we have the team, the products and the pipeline in place to maintain our strong growth momentum,” concluded Goldschmidt.