Regeneron Pharmaceuticals' high-dose Eylea is off to a strong start in the U.S., the company said Thursday, leading REGN stock to jump.
The company gained Food and Drug Administration approval in late August for the high dose of its eye-disease treatment, Eylea. The higher dose means patients receive fewer injections. High-dose Eylea also gives Regeneron a chance to compete better against Roche's rival drug, Vabysmo, and the ability to offset looming biosimilars and possible Medicare price negotiations for standard Eylea.
In the September quarter, high-dose Eylea brought in $43 million in sales, easily beating expectations for $19 million to $29 million, according to various REGN stock analysts' reports. Overall, U.S. Eylea sales came in short at $1.49 billion, below calls for $1.53 billion. Bayer reports Eylea sales abroad.
"The slightly negative impact to total franchise sales is not unexpected," Leerink Partners analyst David Risinger said in a report. "We expect the relative magnitude of high-dose negative impact on (low-dose) 2-milligram sales to decline in future quarters."
Risinger noted Roche experienced a similar phenomenon with Vabysmo taking a bite out of Roche's older eye drug, Lucentis. He kept his outperform rating on REGN stock.
REGN Stock: Earnings, Sales Top
Overall, Regeneron's sales climbed 15% to $3.36 billion, topping forecasts for $3.23 billion, according to FactSet. Adjusted earnings also beat expectations at $11.59 per share, up 4%. Analysts expected the firm to earn $10.73 per share.
In response, REGN stock jumped 3.5% to 818.79 on today's stock market.
Notably, revenue from inflammatory drug Dupixent surged 33% to nearly $3.1 billion. Regeneron and Sanofi collaborate on Dupixent. Regeneron posted a higher-than-expected $1.07 billion in collaboration revenue from its Sanofi tie-up, RBC Capital Markets analyst Brian Abrahams said in a report to clients.
Additionally, Regeneron noted it expects to have interim results from a study of Dupixent in COPD, a lung disease also known as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The Food and Drug Administration has said strong interim results could help support a potential approval for Dupixent in COPD treatment.
"The interim analysis will be conducted later this year, effectively moving up the approval timeline by six to nine months, an incremental positive for Dupixent," he said.
Abrahams has a sector perform rating and 847 price target on REGN stock.
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