As momentum for Biogen’s newer drugs for neurological disorders builds at a slow and steady pace, it appears that the company can still count on its older products to hold down the fort and support another updated sales outlook.
With 3% year-over-year growth to $2.5 billion over the third quarter, the company’s sales beat consensus estimates of $2.3 billion, the latest in an upward trajectory after years of sales declines.
The growth stems in part from an “awful lot of market creation” that the company has focused on lately, CEO Chris Viehbacher said on an investor call, pointing to recent launches in Eisai-partnered Alzheimer’s disease drug Leqembi, Friedreich's ataxia (FA) med Skyclarys and postpartum depression treatment Zurzuvae.
Leqembi in particular has been a primary focus of Biogen’s so-called “new Biogen” as it works to expand the market while battling Eli Lilly’s rival Kinsunla.
Amid a slow growth trajectory, Biogen and Eisai have put many of their chips behind a once-weekly subcutaneous autoinjector version of the drug that won approval in August. Although Biogen expects a more gradual uptake as patients and providers adjust to the new treatment modality, things are “so far so good” on that end, North America head Alisha Alaimo pointed out on the call.
Leqembi’s 82% year-over-year growth to $121 million in global third-quarter sales were accompanied by 14% quarterly growth in its U.S. prescriber base as the drug maintained as the top prescribed anti-amyloid therapy, the company said. Lilly, for its part, reported $70 million in its own third-quarter Kisunla sales.
Outside of Leqembi, Zurzuvae “continues to perform above expectations” while Skyclarys continues an expansion push to now 34 countries, Alaimo noted. Growth ahead could come from a high-dose version of its spinal muscular atrophy med Sprinraza, which Biogen expects an FDA decision on by April 3, 2026, after resubmitting its bid following a manufacturing-related rejection last month.
While Biogen’s newer products drove 67% growth over the quarter, its legacy multiple sclerosis franchise is still holding up with 1% growth year-over-year as it remains the market leader in the space, Viehbacher pointed out.
Although analysts at William Blair don’t see the franchise as a continued growth driver due to generic pressure and greater use of anti-CD20 therapies, it’s now the second quarter in a row that the drugs’ combined revenue haul beat expectations.
For now, MS product revenues remain the top contributor to Biogen’s quarterly revenue with $1 billion in total sales. The “resilient performance” of the franchise was cited as a rationale for the company’s updated financial guidance for 2025, which now expects growth to climb 1% as opposed to the previously flat projection. Biogen initially started out the year anticipating a mid-single-digit decline.
As part of the “new Biogen” initiative, Viehbacher is steering the primarily neuroscience-focused company toward the more lucrative immunology space.
The drugmaker is gradually building out its immunology pipeline, recently bolstered by a buy from Vanqua Bio. The deal, which is worth up to $1 billion, adds a preclinical oral C5aR1 antagonist that nicely complements the company’s in-house izastobart, an antibody directed against C5aR1 that’s currently being evaluated as a potential lupus treatment.
Viehbacher maintains that Biogen’s MS experience will be “directly applicable” to lupus, allowing it to develop the market in a way that existing products in the space haven’t been able to.