Biogen’s Leqembi Push Getting Easier as CEO Eyes Early-Stage Pipeline Restock

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Rumors of Biogen’s disagreements with Eisai have been greatly exaggerated, CEO Chris Viehbacher said during a second quarter earnings call. The partnered Alzheimer’s drug Leqembi saw sales climb 20% for the period.

Biogen and partner Eisai’s hard work pushing Alzheimer’s disease drug Leqembi uphill may finally be paying off. Analysts were pleasantly surprised—but still characteristically cautious—as Biogen reported a 7% increase in revenue to $2.6 billion for the second quarter.

Leqembi’s sales rose 20% in the U.S. to $63 million, for $160 million globally, according to Biogen’s second quarter earnings report, released Thursday. This includes, however, a one-time stock up shipment to China worth $35 million. The global sales represented a 58% increase overall, according to BMO Capital Markets Analyst Evan David Seigerman. William Blair still called this modest growth.

Leqembi, despite pressure from Eli Lilly’s Kisunla, still holds 70% of the market, Alisha Alaimo, president and head of North America operations, said on the earnings call.

The drug has seen slow market uptake as physicians adapt to the diagnostic testing requirements and other challenges. But Alaimo said the biomarker testing has picked up considerably as faster and more convenient tests receive approval, leading to more patients being diagnosed and put in line for treatment.

“It’s way more than what we thought it was going to be at this time point, and so we do believe this is a pivotal moment,” she said.

CEO Chris Veihbacher said the blood-based biomarker tests are helping to “remove some of the bottlenecks in the system.”

Biogen has been partnered with Eisai in Alzheimer’s for a decade. Viehbacher addressed rumors that the relationship may be souring in light of news that Biogen has filed arbitration in Europe over commercial allocations there. Viehbacher admitted that there have been disagreements over the years, but said the relationship is “better than it has ever been.”

“It’s not always easy for companies to work together, and it’s normal, because a lot of things are just never black and white in terms of how we approach them,” Viehbacher said on the call. “There are times where you know there is going to be a disagreement, and I think we have that in terms of how we launch in Europe, and we’re just following the process in our contract … It happens in relationships, but it hasn’t affected the overall working relationship with Eisai.”

Biogen executives have met with Eisai’s team since the arbitration was filed, particularly the manufacturing team, the CEO noted.

A Cautious Half To Come

As always, Veihbacher spoke to Biogen’s business development efforts: “definitely early stage is on the cards.” In particular, more deals like the City Therapeutics research collaborations will be coming. In that partnership from May, Biogen paid $46 million upfront, with up to $1 billion in milestones for new RNAi therapies for central nervous system diseases.

He also likened the early-stage hunt to the $1.8 billion acquisition of HI-BIO, which Biogen has integrated and kept intact. This allows the biotech to do what it does best with the backing of Biogen’s global clinical trials network, the CEO explained, adding: “That’s what we’d like to do on the early stage.”

While Viehbacher has an eye to filling any pipeline gaps ten years out, Biogen could jump on some later-stage assets, but they would have to have the right valuation.

“As we look at opportunities, I always say, you can never have enough pipeline. [But] it has to fit strategically with what we’re already doing. We don’t want to stretch our teams more than we need to, and it has to make financial sense,” Viebacher said. “And there are some assets out there. Not everybody thinks that they’re appropriately valued, and that makes it difficult sometimes to get deals done.”

Biogen expects revenue to slow in the second half, leading the company to raise guidance to represent flat growth for the year. Revenue guidance increased to $15.50 and $16, up from $14.50 and $15.50. This will be in line with what was achieved in 2024, and Jefferies labeled the guidance raise as “conservative.”

While the Alzheimer’s news was a positive sign of the momentum behind Biogen’s commercial work, the real boost to earnings was an outperformance of Biogen’s multiple sclerosis franchise. This area of the business outperformed BMO’s consensus by 17%, notching sales of $1.11 billion. Tysabri in particular brought in $77 million more than Jefferies had expected, for total global sales of $454 million. This compares to $462 million for the same quarter last year.

The overall performance of the MS franchise was actually a slight decline from the same period a year earlier, when it took in $1.15 billion. But Biogen’s multiple sclerosis products are in decline, so the beat was welcomed by BMO. William Blair expects the franchise to further erode going forward as more generics and new anti-CD20 therapies come in to replace Biogen’s products.

Biogen’s other new product, Zurzuvae for post-partum depression, also contributed with a 41% consensus beat. The Sage-partnered drug collected $46 million for the quarter, a 68% increase over the same quarter a year ago. Sage has now been acquired by Supurnus Pharmaceuticals.

Alaimo said that Biogen expanded its field team to market Zurzuvae, so the results today are due to their work.

The quarter’s results were also aided by Biogen’s “Fit for Growth” program, which aimed to find $1 billion in cost savings by 2025, BMO noted. Because of that, Biogen’s R&D expenses were lower than previous quarters at $399 million, compared to $505 million for the second quarter of 2024.

Speaking to the “Fit for Growth” program, which began 18 months ago, Alaimo said: “Today, we believe we’re seeing the results of those decisions.”

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