() hailed the acquisition of a raft of products from last year as underlying profits and sales doubled. Sales rose by 102% to £97.5mln while profits were up by a similar amount to £22.2mln, with cash flow also strong. Focus now will be on three core brands, scar reduction treatment Kelo-cote, which is now Alliance’s first £10mln brand, macular degeneration treatment Macushield and pregnancy anti-emetic Diclectin, where it has just been granted the licensing rights across a further nine European countries in addition to the UK. Alliance said the Diclectin deal would not have been possible prior to the addition of Sinclair’s international infrastructure and it expects to be able push Kelo-cote and MacuShield down similar routes. Diclectin is expected to receive UK regulatory approval in the third quarter and be giving the green light in the other nine territories later this year. Kelo-cote grew sales by 24% in 2016 with China its largest market, while MacuShield’s sales rose to £5.3mln from £3.5mln. Overall, the products bought in from Sinclair generated sales £43.8m, while the remaining Alliance portfolio saw sales rise 13% to £53.7mln. There was some help from the pound’s weakness, but this was reduced at the profit level. The dividend for the year rise by 10% to 1.21p. Andrew Smith, Alliance's chairman, said it had been a transformational twelve months. “Sales and profits have broadly doubled and our geographic reach extends to more than 100 countries. “Having successfully integrated the acquisition, we are now focused on our three international growth opportunities - Kelo-cote, MacuShield and Diclectin. "The current year has started well and we look forward to building on our foundations: an attractive, balanced portfolio, an expanded geographic footprint and a strong team.”
Alliance Pharma has seen profits and sales double after it acquired a range of products from rival Sinclair Pharma last year. The firm's sales rose to £97.5m ($121.3m), a 102% increase, with profits rising to £22.2m. Alliance will now focus on developing three of its core brands — Kelo-cote, MacuShield and Diclectin — on an international level, according to Chairman Andrew Smith.