Biogen revenue and profit shrink on Aduhelm costs, slumping sales of multiple sclerosis therapies

Biogen on Tuesday reported fourth-quarter revenue and profit that shrank from a year ago, as it recorded charges related to dropping its controversial Alzheimer’s drug Aduhelm and as sales slumped in its multiple sclerosis therapies, the company’s biggest drug category.

Biogen booked sales of $2.39 billion for the quarter, down 6% from the same period a year ago. It reported net income of $249.7 billion, or $1.71 per share, for the fourth quarter, down from net income of $550.4 billion, or $3.79 per share, for the same period a year ago. Adjusting for one-time items, the company reported $2.95 per share.

The drugmaker’s fourth-quarter earnings per share, both unadjusted and adjusted, saw a negative impact of 35 cents associated with previously disclosed costs of pulling Aduhelm, which had a polarizing approval and rollout in the U.S.

Biogen is cutting costs while pinning its hopes on its other Alzheimer’s drugs, including its closely watched treatment Leqembi, and other newly launched products to replace declining revenue from its multiple sclerosis therapies.

Shares of Biogen fell 5% in early trading Tuesday.

Here’s what Biogen reported for the fourth quarter compared with what Wall Street was expecting, based on a survey of analysts by LSEG: 

• Earnings per share: $2.95 adjusted vs. $3.18 expected
• Revenue: $2.39 billion vs. $2.47 billion expected

Also on Tuesday, Biogen issued full-year 2024 guidance that calls for adjusted earnings of $15 to $16 per share. Analysts surveyed by LSEG had expected full-year earnings guidance of $15.65 per share.

The drugmaker said it expects 2024 sales to decline by a low to mid-single digit percentage compared to last year. But the company expects its pharmaceutical revenue, which includes product revenue and its 50% share of Leqembi sales, to be flat this year compared to 2023.

Biogen’s fourth-quarter revenue from multiple sclerosis products fell 8% to $1.17 billion as some of the therapies face competition from cheaper generics.

The company’s once-blockbuster drug Tecfidera, which is facing competition from a generic rival, posted revenue that fell 17.8% to $244.3 million in the fourth quarter. Analysts had expected that drug to book sales of $233.1 million, according to FactSet.

Vumerity, an oral medication for relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis, generated $156.4 million in sales. That came in below analysts’ estimates of $174.4 million, FactSet estimates said. 

“We’ve had several years of declining revenue and profit, which is not unusual when you’re dealing with patent expirations,” Biogen CEO Christopher Viehbacher told reporters on a media call Tuesday. He added that one of the key ways Biogen will return to growth is to “reposition the company away from our legacy franchise of multiple sclerosis towards new products.”

Meanwhile, Biogen’s rare disease drugs recorded $471.8 million in sales, up 3% from the same period a year ago. 

Spinraza, a medication used to treat a rare neuromuscular disorder called spinal muscular atrophy, recorded $412.6 million in sales. That came under analysts’ estimate of $443.4 million in revenue, according to FactSet. 

Biogen’s biosimilar drugs booked $188.2 million in sales, up 8% from the year-earlier period. Analysts had expected sales of $196.7 million from those medicines.

The results come amid the rollout of Biogen and Eisai’s Leqembi, which became the first drug found to slow the progression of the disease to win approval in the U.S. in July.

Eisai, which reported earnings last week, recorded $7 million in fourth-quarter revenue and $10 million in full-year sales from Leqembi.

Biogen CEO Christopher Viehbacher told reporters on a media call Tuesday that there are around 2,000 patients currently on Leqembi. That makes Biogen’s target of 10,000 patients by the end of March 2024 look increasingly difficult to hit, but Viehbacher emphasized that the company is focused more on the long-term reach of Leqembi rather than meeting that benchmark. 

“I think what’s important is we are now making progress,” he told reporters. “The 10,000 isn’t really hard and I think we are now really focusing on commercial plans — how do we get to the next 100,000?”

Notably, the low rate of adoption isn’t due to lack of demand: There are some 8,000 U.S. patients currently waiting to get on treatment, executives from Eisai said on an earnings call last week. 

The companies are also working toward Food and Drug Administration approval of an injectable version of Leqembi, which showed promising initial results in a clinical trial in October. 

Leqembi is currently administered twice monthly through the veins, a method known as intravenous infusion. The injectable form would be a new and more convenient option for administering the antibody treatment to patients, which could pave the way for higher uptake. 

But investors also have their eyes on other newly launched drugs. 

That includes Skyclarys from Biogen’s acquisition of Reata Pharmaceuticals in July. That drug brought in $56 million in fourth-quarter revenue, according to Biogen.

The FDA cleared Skyclarys last year, making it the first approved treatment for Friedreich ataxia, a rare inherited degenerative disease that can impair walking and coordination in children as young as 5.

On Monday, EU regulators approved Skyclarys for the treatment of Friedreich ataxia in patients ages 16 and up. 

Biogen has also partnered with Sage Therapeutics on the first pill for postpartum depression, which won FDA approval in August. But the agency declined to clear the drug for major depressive disorder, which is a far larger commercial opportunity. 

Biogen said that pill, called Zurzuvae, generated roughly $2 million in sales for the fourth-quarter.