Horizon Therapeutics, Eli Lilly, Gilead Sciences and more hit financial road bumps or missed the mark entirely in their Q2 earnings reports.
As Q2 earnings reports are released, some companies have reported less than ideal results. These financial speed bumps come from clinical trial misses, the waning COVID-19 pandemic, notes from regulatory agencies and more, and often result in steep declines in stock value. For that and more, continue reading.
Some investors in Horizon Therapeutics are unhappy that the company missed its quarterly earnings mark and has revised its 2022 revenue guidance. Shares of the company plunged about 20% after it was revealed that sales of thyroid eye disease drug Tepezza underperformed expectations.
On Wednesday, Tim Walbert, chairman and CEO of Horizon, announced a revision of its full-year guidance for Tepezza due to generic competition in the inflammation space, as well as issues with the company’s own sales efforts. The company anticipated growth in the mid-30% range but only saw sales growth of about half that.
In its quarterly report, Horizon said it determined a need to “increase its efforts to activate and support core thyroid eye disease treating physicians.” Horizon said it will evolve its commercial focus and increase the size of its Tepezza field force “to a greater extent than originally planned.”
“We understand the dynamics impacting the pace of growth of Tepezza, and we are executing on our strategy to address them, including a more significant expansion of our Tepezza field force and implementing initiatives to drive further penetration,” Walbert said in a statement. He added that the company’s long-term outlook for Tepezza has not changed and still expects significant revenue from the drug, about $3.5 billion.
This was not enough for some investors, particularly those who are more litigious-minded. An enterprising legal firm announced its intentions to investigate the company for securities fraud due to its sales missteps.
Horizon wasn’t the only company to miss the mark when reporting quarterly earnings. For the first time in two years, pharma giant Eli Lilly saw a revenue contraction.
Thursday morning, the Indianapolis-based company posted a 4% revenue decline, primarily due to sagging sales of cancer drug Alimta after an influx of generic competition. The company also lost revenue from declining sales of its COVID-19 antibodies and the sale of the rights to the China market for erectile dysfunction drug, Cialis.
Chief Financial Officer Anat Ashkenazi noted that the company has been negatively impacted by foreign exchange rates. Despite the contraction, Ashkenazi said the company’s revenue guidance for 2022 remains unchanged.
Gilead Sciences also posted a decline in its adjusted profits due to lagging sales of its COVID-19 antiviral drug Veklury (remdesivir). Earlier this week, the California-based company revealed that shares of Veklury fell 46% during the second quarter, compared to the same period in 2021. The antiviral drug generated $445 million during the three-month period.
The company noted that revenue for Veklury “generally reflects COVID-19 related rates and severity of infections and hospitalizations, as well as the availability, uptake and effectiveness of vaccinations and alternative treatments for COVID-19.”
Despite the drop in antiviral sales, Gilead Sciences posted a 1% increase in its quarterly revenue. The company generated $6.3 billion in revenue, driven by its HIV and oncology products, including Biktarvy and Trodelvy. Sales of HIV drugs increased 7% to $4.2 billion, while the company’s cancer cell therapies, which includes Trodelvy, rose 68% to $368 million for the quarter.
Following a leadership change in May, New Jersey-based Aquestive Therapeutics faced a challenging quarter. Dan Barber, the company’s new CEO, noted in a call with investors that the company was battered by a “significant change in market value” during the quarter, as well as deteriorating “macroeconomic conditions.”
As a result of these circumstances, Barber said the company is reassessing its key priorities to create value for stakeholders. He noted Aquestive has two acute rescue medications in development: AQST-109 epinephrine sublingual film for the potential treatment of severe allergic reactions, including anaphylaxis, and Libervant, diazepam buccal film for the potential treatment of seizure clusters.
The company reported quarterly revenue of $13.3 million, compared to $15.3 million during the same period last year.
Ironwood Pharmaceuticals also missed its quarterly earnings, but only slightly. The company posted revenue of $97.2 million, missing projections by less than $6.5 million. The Boston-based company said it retains its full-year guidance due to increasing demand for Linzess, a drug approved last year for chronic idiopathic constipation and irritable bowel syndrome with constipation.
This morning, Ironwood said prescription demand for Linzess, which was co-developed with AbbVie, has increased 9% compared to this time last year and predicts total annual revenue of $420 to $430 million.
