Operator: Yes. Next question, Richard Vosser from JPMorgan.
Richard Vosser: First question, just on the flu vaccines, and apologies if I missed it. I didn’t really hear whether you anticipated a record flu season in ’23. So, perhaps you could talk about the expected drivers in the U.S. around maybe a return to more vaccinations because of a bad flu season and price rises. And in Europe, do you see potential for increased penetration of high dose flu beyond Germany, Spain, Italy, et cetera? And then, second question, just on BOI margin. Maybe you could give us an idea of margin progression in ’23, ’24 towards your target of over 32% by ’25? That would be very helpful. Thank you very much.
Paul Hudson: Thank you, Richard. J-B will come to you in a moment on margin. Thomas, you predicted a record flu season every single year since at least I’ve been here. So, what do you have to say for yourself for ’23?
Thomas Triomphe: It’s always nice to be recognized. Thank you very much for that point. Moving forward, a great question, Richard. It’s indeed a very dynamic flu market. As you know very well, I very often have that question at that moment of the year. We always say that we are only in early February, you know very well, but strains for the completion of the vaccines will be selected in March. And you also know very well that we are in the middle. We just started the prebooking process for the flu and H ’23 season. So, it’s probably a bit early to give a guidance. Usually, I will tell you that at the Q1 earnings call. So a bit more suspense for the month of April. But definitely, we believe that we have the right assets with our differentiated vaccines.
To keep being the leader in the flu market, there is some work to do on the vaccination rate. As we highlighted, it’s been, I would say, a soft vaccination rate this year in H 2022. There has been disease, as we all have seen, but there is more disease coming back now, but there is less COVID-19 virus circulation. I think we can work with the system to make sure that this vaccination coverage rates do recover in ’23 and ’24, and that’s the work we’re on.
Paul Hudson: Thank you, Thomas. J-B, margin progression?
Jean-Baptiste de Chatillon: Yes. Thank you. It’s clear that with our target in ’25, 32%, we are aiming to go on improving our underlying performance for the Company. So, with an EPS growing in ’23 as we are guiding at constant exchange rate, of course, it means that in spite of the LOE of Aubagio, we are looking at deep and important improvement of the underlying performance of the Company. So yes, all said, you can make the calculation with an EPS growing as we are guiding. We are clearly aiming to reach our target of ’25.
Paul Hudson: Thank you to both. I think just a quick additional comment. I think even the chart shown today by Thomas, the progression and the value of the flu franchise since 2018 is, frankly, staggering. And while it’s impressive, the total performance, the move to high dose has been really incredible. And as Thomas mentioned, the countries now that are making that standard of care in the elderly, just shows you that the protection beyond flu itself is significant and meaningful for payers and health systems. So, I’m very proud of how the teams have delivered on that. And on the margin expansion, I think JB has touched on it. We will swallow Aubagio this year and continue on our journey of making a connection between 2022 and 2025 on BOI.
