Pharmaceutical company intelligence reports from Espicom provide a full review of the company's activities together with five-year sales forecasts for its key products. The company's financial performance is covered in-depth, from its latest results to a complete analysis of its latest full fiscal year and an outlook for the future. A section on company strategy covers mergers, acquisitions and divestitures, key agreements, products and R&D. An overview of key products and R&D is followed by a comprehensive review of the company's product portfolio and research and development pipeline by therapeutic area. In addition, supplementary appendices provide more in-depth information on financials, agreements and corporate events. Nycomed provides medicines and products for hospitals, specialists and general practitioners, as well as OTC medicines in selected markets. The company is active within a range of therapeutic areas, including gastroenterology, inflammation and pain, neurology, tissue management, respiratory and cardiology. In January 2007, Nycomed moved into its new corporate headquarters (HQ) in Zurich, Switzerland, with the company's HQ function now officially transferred from Denmark to Switzerland.

The acquisition of Altana Pharma at the end of 2006 was a huge milestone for Nycomed. To put it into context, combined sales of the pantoprazole franchise by the two companies in 2006 was nearly double the total company revenue of Nycomed during the same period. Consequently, fiscal 2007 is expected to be a landmark year for Nycomed, with sales of major products approaching EUR 2 billion. However, this rapid growth will not be sustained due to the loss of patent protection for pantoprazole throughout 2009 and 2010. Nycomed concedes that there is a gap in its clinical development, and without extensive inlicensing, the company can expect a rapid decline of sales within our forecast period.

The future for Nycomed's product portfolio appears to be within the respiratory field. Both Alvesco and Daxas are forecast to have sales in excess of EUR 500 million, and both could potentially peak at over EUR 1 billion. However, these products are competing in an extremely congested market and Nycomed will need to utilise its extensive marketing expertise throughout Europe to ensure strong sales.

Fiscal 2007 will be a year of integration and re-organisation for Nycomed. The company can be confident of significantly increased revenues, but in order for this to be sustained beyond the patent expiry of pantoprazole, Nycomed will need to rapidly utilise the infrastructure and expertise it has gained from Altana Pharma to ensure the long-term success of the company.