Hikma Pharmaceuticals looks increasingly like three different companies. Its roots are in Jordan, providing a range of medicines in the Middle East. In recent years the company has made three big acquisitions in the US to lessen its exposure there. Now 70 per cent of sales in generics and injectables, the two biggest components, come from the US.
The biggest division, injectables, was the star performer last year. It also soaked up the majority of R&D spend, $150 million across the group. The driver is Bedford Laboratories, bought in 2014, which supplies generic injectable products; there are 20 Bedford products being launched this year, after nine were brought to market in 2016.
Injectables will soak up most of this year’s R&D spend, while that investment