Biogen Raises Earnings Forecast on Alzheimer’s Drug Sales

Commenting on Biogen’s second quarter, President and CEO Christopher Viehbacher said: “Biogen delivered strong financial performance…thanks to solid execution against our business strategy, which is aimed at transforming the Company to deliver sustainable growth. We saw continued positive momentum across new product launches and are pleased with the trends we see with key products going into the third quarter. We believe we have created a strong mid- to late-stage development pipeline thanks to reprioritization efforts made last year and key acquisitions like Human Immunology Biosciences…Our Fit for Growth program announced in early 2023 continues to deliver significant savings, allowing us to strategically reinvest a portion back into product launches and the pipeline.”

Highlights from the second quarter, as reported by Biogen, include:

• Core pharmaceutical revenue up 5% at actual currency and 6% at constant currency year-over-year.
• In Alzheimer’s disease, Leqembi launch delivered accelerated growth with second quarter global in-market sales of approximately $40 million, including U.S. in-market sales of approximately $30 million.
• Clinical data presented at AAIC demonstrates three years of continuous treatment with Leqembi continues to benefit early Alzheimer’s disease patients.
• Rare disease franchise further established with Skyclarys second quarter global revenue of $100 million, as launches continued to demonstrate global growth potential of the brand.
• Acquisition of Human Immunology Biosciences completed, thus expanding the immunology portfolio and bolstering the late-stage pipeline with the addition of three potential phase 3 program starts.
• Decision made to retain biosimilars business.

(Source: Biogen Website, 01 August, 2024)