August 8, 2017
By Mark Terry, BioSpace.com Breaking News Staff
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals , with headquarters in Tarrytown, NY, indicates it is planning to add additional jobs in Limerick, Ireland.
The company’s new human resources director in Ireland, Ivor Downey, told the Limerick Business Leader that the company is “on the cusp” of further growth. In 2013, Regeneron picked up the former Dell manufacturing facility, where it researches and produces cholesterol medications and drugs for eye diseases.
Downey said, “A huge goal is hiring and attracting people to Regeneron. Based on the strength of our pipeline of products, we have had a couple of products which have been approved by the Federal Drugs Administration (FDA) this year. To put that in context, there are probably only 20 drugs approved by the FDA this year; and of these, Regeneron has two. We are currently in a phase where we are validating our operation here in Raheen. Based on our pipeline, we are going to build up our operation through the rest of this year and into next year.”
On August 3, Regeneron reported its second-quarter financials. Its Eylea (aflibercept) Injection brought in $919 million in the second quarter in the U.S., an increase of 11 percent from the same period the previous year. Its Eylea global sales also increased 11 percent to $1.46 billion for the quarter. The company raised its full year guidance for Eylea U.S. net sales to 10 percent.
“In the first half of 2017, we continued to bring our market-leading therapy Eylea to more patients with retinal diseases, resulting in strong global sales,” said Leonard Schleifer, president and chief executive officer of Regeneron, in a statement. “We also markedly expanded our positive impact on patient lives with two important new product launches for serious disease, Dupixent for moderate-to-severe atopic dermatitis and Kevzara for moderately to severely active rheumatoid arthritis. The Dupixent U.S. launch in moderate-to-severe atopic dermatitis is proceeding well, with a very positive reception in the physician and patient community and strong commercial execution. In the second half of the year, we anticipate EU approval for Dupixent in atopic dermatitis, as well as Phase III study results and a potential U.S. regulatory submission for Dupixent in uncontrolled asthma.”
The company also indicated it has 17 product candidates in clinical development, typically Eylea and fully human monoclonal antibodies, which includes six collaborations with Sanofi . These include REGN2810, an antibody to programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1), for cancer, Fasinumab, an antibody targeting Nerve Growth Factor (NGF) in Phase III for osteoarthritis pain of the knee or hip, Evinacumab, an antibody to Angptl-3 for HoFH and severe forms of hyperlipidemia (high cholesterol). The company also pointed to REGN1979, an antibody for large B-cell lymphoma, REGN2477, an antibody to Activin A for Fibrodysplasia Ossificans Progressiva (FOP), and REGN3918, an antibody to complement 5 (C5) for paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuaria (PNH).
In addition to its expansion of workers in Ireland, Downey indicated the company is initiating an apprenticeship program aimed at Leaving Certificate students. “We will have a number of slots for people doing the Leaving Certificate to start with us in September,” he told the Limerick Business Leader. “The second big thing is the whole engagement with colleges. We want to ramp up our engagement with local colleges, as we will need these graduates for many years to come.”
