Stock Watch: Should A Biotech’s First Product Be Out-Licensed Or Self-Marketed?

The investor enthusiasm that greeted initial second-quarter pharma earnings announcements was dampened by the results from Sanofi and Merck & Co. Sanofi was particularly punished by investors despite overall growth, while Merck’s revenue fall was probably baked into expectations.

While second-quarter revenue growth bolstered both the UK’s big pharma companies, some of that growth may have been catch-up from the weak first quarter. This resulted in sales of even seasonally weak off-patent products, growing.

With drug sector indexes underperforming the broad market in the first half of 2025, investors may have been anticipating tariff-related and other headwinds. But impending loss of exclusivity on key products may be provoking more anxiety at this point.

Pharma company financial guidance emerged largely unscathed from a first quarter punctured by a weakening US dollar and threats of import tariffs on drugs. With other pressures either already evident or on the horizon, guidance revisions may be unavoidable.