Amgen Inc. raised its profit and revenue guidance for the year as the drugmaker’s overall second-quarter results exceeded Wall Street analysts’ expectations despite the underperformance of two key products.
(Bloomberg) — Amgen Inc. raised its profit and revenue guidance for the year as the drugmaker’s overall second-quarter results exceeded Wall Street analysts’ expectations despite the underperformance of two key products.
Adjusted earnings will be $17.80 to $18.80 a share, Amgen said Thursday in a statement, up from the range of $17.60 to $18.70 given in April. The drugmaker edged up its revenue outlook to $27.4 billion at the top end, but the figure doesn’t include the impact of the pending acquisition of Horizon Therapeutics Plc, which the Federal Trade Commission is suing to block.
Quarterly revenue from Amjevita, the first US biosimilar to AbbVie Inc.’s blockbuster Humira, was $150 million, missing the average estimate of $170 million. Humira is one of the best-selling drugs on the market and a lucrative target for competition. Amjevita, launched in early 2023, is the first of several biosimilars approved in the US so far.
Sales of an up-and-coming cancer drug, Lumakras, were also lackluster as the medicine faces increasing competition from Mirati Therapeutics Inc.’s Krazati. While Lumakras prescriptions are much greater, they’ve leveled off as Krazati’s continue to increase, according to estimates from Symphony Health that run through the end of June. Lumakras sales of $77 million missed estimates by about $10 million.
Gradual Uptake
US uptake of Amjevita will be “gradual,” Chief Financial Officer Peter Griffith said in an interview. Lumakras sales will increase as it gains approvals for other cancers and earlier lines of treatment, he said.
The company said it obtained positive results in a final-stage study of Lumakras combined with Vectibix, another Amgen product, in a form of treatment-resistant colorectal cancer. The combination helped patients survive longer without cancer progression, the company said in a press release, without giving more details. Amgen said it will discuss the data with regulators and present more detailed results at an upcoming medical meeting.
Before the announcement, Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Marc Engelsgjerd wrote that it would be “reassuring” to hear that the combination data in colorectal cancer were on track for the second half of this year.
Second-quarter revenue and profit came in higher than analysts’ expectations, driven by increased sales of several medicines. Revenue was $7 billion, beating the average estimate of $6.68 billion, and adjusted earnings of $5 a share exceeded the average estimate of $4.48.
Sales of anti-inflammatory Otezla reached $600 million for the quarter, soundly beating expectations despite competition from Bristol-Myers Squibb Co.’s Sotyktu. Otezla made up 8.7% of Amgen’s revenue last year.
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