(Reuters) -Regeneron Pharmaceuticals (REGN) beat Wall Street estimates for second-quarter revenue and profit on Friday helped by robust demand for its blockbuster eczema treatment, Dupixent, sending its shares up nearly 3% in premarket trading.
Investors have set a high bar for Regeneron and French partner Sanofi’s Dupixent, one of the U.S. drugmaker’s growth drivers, especially after it received approval to treat a common lung condition called chronic obstructive pulmonary disease last year.
Sales of the anti-inflammatory drug rose 22% to $4.34 billion, compared with an estimate of $4.14 billion.
The Tarrytown, New York-based company is also banking its cancer treatment, Libtayo, to drive future growth at a time when its blockbuster eye disease drug Eylea has been grappling with stiff competition from cheaper versions and rival drugs such as Roche’s Vabysmo.
U.S. sales of Eylea, jointly developed with Bayer AG, fell 25% to $1.15 billion, including $393 million from the higher, 8-milligram dose version of the drug. Analysts were expecting $2.17 billion in total Eylea sales.
Roche reported Vabysmo sales of 2.07 billion Swiss francs ($2.54 billion) last week, slightly below analyst expectations.
On an adjusted basis, Regeneron earned a quarterly profit of $12.89 per share, compared with analysts’ average expectation of $8.44 per share, according to data compiled by LSEG.
The company’s total revenue for the quarter was $3.68 billion, above an expectation of $3.28 billion.
Skin cancer drug Libtayo brought in sales of $377 million, versus analysts’ average estimate of $338.75 million.
Separately, Regeneron is among 17 drugmakers that have received a letter from the U.S. President Donald Trump asking them to slash U.S. prescription drug prices to match overseas rates.
($1 = 0.8161 Swiss francs)
(Reporting by Siddhi Mahatole in Bengaluru; Editing by Pooja Desai)
