Sanofi

2014 sales: $5.84 billion

Sanofi ($SNY) has not been shy to embrace the vaccines race, raking in $5.84 billion in sales last year and notching 7% growth, enough to place it as the No. 2 vaccines company for 2014.

Paris-based Sanofi is gearing up for the launch of its decades-in-development dengue vaccine, anticipated to be at the "high end" of the unit's profitability, vaccines head Olivier Charmeil recently said. By the end of 2015, the company expects to license the shot in 20 countries for a total population of 1 billion people as it works its way up to the vaccine's potential patient pool of 3 billion to 4 billion.

Notably, and contrary to past launches, the company is first rolling out the vaccine away from the U.S. and Europe--instead looking to afflicted countries as it seeks to recoup the $1.5 billion spent on development.

Other assets include its flu vaccine business--it saw sales jump 25% last year; a joint venture in Europe with Merck ($MRK) in which it'll reel in 50% of Gardasil 9 sales there; and a Phase III C. difficile vaccine.

For the year, Sanofi Pasteur saw its travel and other endemic vaccines group grow 1.6% in sales; adult booster vaccines sales increase 2%; polio/pertussis/Hib vaccines jump 1.9% and "other" vaccines sales advance 9.7%. Meningitis and pneumonia vaccines were the only category to decrease, posting a 7.5% drop.

Earlier this year, the pharma said it's poised for a repeat performance of last year's growth and predicted a 7% cumulative vaccines sales increase for 2015.

According to EvaluatePharma's analysts, the company will post 6% growth through 2020 to land in fourth in 5 years with $7.25 billion in sales.

--Eric Sagonowsky

For more:
GSK, bioCSL to increase flu vaccine deliveries to U.S.
Merck, Sanofi granted European Commission thumbs-up on Gardasil 9
Sanofi's dengue vaccine anticipated on profitability 'high end'
Sanofi promises 7% vax sales growth for 2015, despite rocky Q1