Actelion sales growth driven by Tracleer

Strong sales of flagship drug Tracleer (bosentan) helped lift Actelion's half-year sales by 27% to CHF 855.2m (£487m; Euro 563m). The Swiss pharmaceutical firm now expects full-year sales to increase by 16-19%, compared with initial forecasts of 12-15%.

During the first six months, Tracleer sales were CHF 739.3m (£422m; â"šÂ¬487m), an increase of 23% in local currencies compared with the same period in 2008.

Earlier this month, the European Commission approved the paediatric dispersible formulation of Tracleer for the treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) in children from two years of age.

Ventavis (iloprost) and Zavesca (miglustat) also experienced sales growth.

Actelion's president of business operations, Otto Schwarz, said he was "especially pleased" with the performance of Ventavis in Japan, where sales growth was a direct response to the increase the company made to its sales force in Japan between the end of 2008 and early 2009.

Schwarz added that with Zavesca the company has the opportunity to achieve "significant growth" in the coming years, driven by increased penetration in adult patients with mild to moderate type 1 Gaucher disease and by creating a market for this orally available substrate therapy in Niemann-Pick type C disease, a rare neurodegenerative disorder affecting both children and adults.

During the first half, r&d expenses increased by 4% to CHF 209.6m (£119m; â"šÂ¬138m). Actelion's pipeline now has 10 compounds in clinical development, as well as more than 25 active projects in drug discovery.

Operating profit was CHF 243m (£138m; â"šÂ¬160m), up from CHF 137.2m (£78m; â"šÂ¬90m) in the previous half-year.

Jean-Paul Clozel, md and ceo of Actelion, said: "We are making significant headway towards obtaining clinical data in the months ahead that might turn development compounds into tomorrow's pharmaceutical options."