(Adds details and context on Eylea in paragraphs 5 and 7, sales of other drugs in paragraphs 8 and 9)
May 2 (Reuters) – U.S. drugmaker Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc missed Wall Street estimates for first-quarter profit on Thursday, due to slowing sales of its blockbuster eye drug Eylea and its treatment for eczema Dupixent.
The company reported adjusted earnings of $9.55 per share for the quarter, compared with analysts’ estimates of $10.09, according to LSEG data.
Regeneron plans to switch Eylea patients to the high-dose version as the eye drug, which has long been its cash cow, faces the threat of biosimilars and fierce competition from rivals including Vabysmo by Roche.
The company said net sales of Eylea products fell, primarily due to changing market dynamics that resulted in lower volumes and lower selling prices.
Sales of Eylea, jointly developed with Bayer AG, fell 2% to $1.40 billion in the January-March quarter. Analysts expected total Eylea revenue of $1.86 billion, according to LSEG estimates.
The higher-dose 8-milligram version contributed $200 million to Eylea’s total sales, in line with JPM analyst estimates.
Analysts have high hopes for this high dose. They expect the high-dose version to gain market share from the standard dose largely over the next year, slowing the success of Roche’s Vabysmo, which achieved a figure of business of 847 million Swiss francs ($847.00 million) in the first quarter.
Regeneron’s anti-inflammatory Dupixent generated revenue of $3.08 billion, missing analysts’ estimates of $3.19 billion.
Its only approved skin cancer drug, Libtayo, generated revenue of $264 million, beating estimates of $257.66 million. Regeneron purchased global rights to the cancer drug from partner Sanofi in 2022.
Regeneron reported total revenue of $3.15 billion, below estimates of $3.22 billion. (Reporting by Sriparna Roy in Bangalore; Editing by Shailesh Kuber)
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