Lundbeck banks on pipeline as antidepressant sales skid

Lundbeck executives touted the future products in the Danish drugmaker's pipeline after reporting a faster-than-expected decline in revenue from its best-selling antidepressant, Cipralex, which faces generic rivals. The company is banking on a lineup of late-stage drugs and soon-to-be launched meds to cover lost revenue from the drug, Reuters reported.

Lundbeck's CFO Anders Gotzsche emphasized the prospects of drugs such as Selincro for alcohol dependence, the experimental antidepressant Lu AA21004 in late-stage development and a long-lasting formulation of Abilify. Both Selincro  and the version of Abilify, a schizophrenia treatment, are under review for approval. According to Reuters, Gotzsche says those drugs as well as Treanda, which Lundbeck licensed from Cephalon, could hit the market within the next year and a half to boost revenue.

"Investors should focus on Lundbeck's pipeline," said Sydbank analyst Soren Hansen, as quoted by Reuters.

Lundbeck's pipeline includes 7 drugs that are in Phase III or registration for approvals, according to the company's website. The drugmaker, of course, is among many companies that are turning to their pipelines in hopes of recovering from the loss of key drugs to low-cost generic rivals.

- read Reuters' article