USA— Regeneron is expanding its portfolio in order to offset the decline in sales of its medicine Eylea, which decreased by 6% in the first quarter of 2023 compared to the previous year.
Regeneron is hoping to obtain FDA approval for the use of Eylea at an 8-mg dose, which would increase revenue for the company, while the 2-mg injection would account for a decreasing share.
Regeneron’s oncology business, which includes Libtayo, is also starting to make a significant contribution to the company’s top line.
In June 2022, Regeneron acquired full global rights to Libtayo from Sanofi, with whom it had developed the therapeutic antibody.
To further diversify its portfolio, Regeneron is investing more in R&D. In the first quarter of 2023, the company spent US$1.1 billion on R&D activities, a 30% increase from the same period in 2022.
The decline in Eylea sales is attributed to increased competition from Vabysmo, a bi-specific antibody approved by the FDA in January 2022 for the treatment of wet AMD and DME.
Eylea, on the other hand, is a recombinant fusion protein used to sequester vascular endothelial growth factor-A and placental growth factor away from their cognate receptors to normalize blood vessel growth in the eyes.
Quarterly Eylea sales of US$2.28 billion missed analysts’ expectations of US$2.43 billion, according Refinitiv data.
Despite the decrease in Eylea sales, Regeneron’s overall revenue grew by 7% in the first quarter of 2023 to over US$3.1 billion.
Low-dose Eylea is expected to become a smaller share of the company’s revenue if the higher-dose version gains approval, Regeneron CEO Leonard Schleifer said.
The U.S. health regulator’s decision on the new version is expected by June 27.
This growth was largely due to Dupixent, which accounted for 25% of the company’s revenue and is expected to continue driving revenue growth and diversification for Regeneron in the future.
The company has also been leaning on its anti-inflammatory drug Dupixent – a treatment currently approved for five indications including asthma and atopic dermatitis, or eczema.
Regeneron’s oncology business, which includes Libtayo, is also starting to make a significant contribution to the company’s top line.
In Q1, Libtayo earned US$110 million in the U.S. and US$67 million in international markets. Regeneron acquired full global rights to Libtayo from Sanofi in June 2022, with whom it had developed the therapeutic antibody.
“We expect this trend of revenue growth, along with diversification to continue,” Schleifer said.
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