Consort Medical's (CSRT) shares bounced back on news that US regulator, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), has approved Wixela Hub – a generic copy of GlaxoSmithKline’s (GSK) respiratory drug Advair – made by US-listed pharma group Mylan (US:MYL).
This is good news for Consort seeing as it manufactures the device used in Mylan’s version of the drug. An exact date for a launch of Wixela Hub has yet to be announced, but analysts at Panmure Gordon argue Consort can “breathe again” – barely two months after a profit warning that wiped more than a fifth off the previous day's closing price.
However Consort’s warning did not just relate to the Mylan delay. At the time of half-year results in December, the development and manufacturing division Aesica also suffered, with revenues down 2.4 per cent. A forceful approach to cost control allowed operating profit here to grow, although a lower pension finance charge helped explain a 6 per cent improvement in adjusted pre-tax profits to £19m.
