Growth portfolio products like Leqembi and Spinraza helped drive Biogen to $2.8 billion in revenue for the third quarter.
The bridge to growth that Biogen CEO Chris Viehbacher has been promising has officially reached the other side. The neuroscience specialist notched a third straight quarter of revenue growth, with $2.8 billion collected for the most recent period.
Biogen in its third quarter earnings release pointed to the growth portfolio—which includes the Alzheimer’s disease therapy Leqembi and spinal muscular atrophy antisense oligonucleotide Spinraza—which jumped 49% year-over-year for $1.26 billion. Also contributing were new products from Apellis, which Biogen acquired in March for $5.6 billion. The third quarter marked the first full period of earnings from that acquisition.
“Our third quarter results demonstrate that Biogen has returned to growth,” Viehbacher said in a prepared statement.
Analysts had been expecting a slight beat of $2.6 billion on revenue and $2.14 earnings per share, which landed at $2.62, although recent acquired in-process research and development charges brought that down to a 14-cent loss when adjusted.
“Overall, a solid quarter that reinforces confidence in execution and early Apellis integration,” Truist Securities wrote Wednesday morning. “That said, with earnings increasingly taking a back seat to the pipeline, we expect clinical catalysts to dominate BIIB shares over the next ~12-14 months.”
Spinraza took in $461 million for the quarter, which Biogen attributed to accelerated conversions to a high-dose regimen that exceeded company expectations in all markets. Leqembi also continued its slow climb, adding $202 million, representing 67% growth year-over-year. Sales within the U.S. for the Alzheimer’s med were $107 million.
Apellis’ eye injection Syfovre and complement inhibitor Empaveli combined for $243 million as compared to consensus of $216.8 million.
Biogen slightly raised the lower end of its guidance to $12.20-$13, compared to $12-13 previously. Full year revenue is expected to land between $10.19-10.58 billion, Jefferies noted on Wednesday.
The big biotech will host a conference call at 8:30 am ET.
