After beating quarterly earnings expectations and raising its full-year sales outlook from a previously forecast decline, Biogen’s “new Biogen” is beginning to take shape.
With 7% year-over-year sales growth in the second quarter to $2.6 billion, the company is slowly picking up after years of sales declines. The quarterly haul beat estimates from William Blair analysts, who expected $2.35 billion, along with the consensus forecast of $2.32 billion. Eisai-partnered Leqembi—the star of Biogen’s commercial profile—brought in about $160 million. While the Alzheimer’s disease drug generated $63 million in the U.S., analysts wrote in a client note that it has seen only “modest growth relative to expectations."
The U.S. Alzheimer’s market is still undergoing a “significant evolution” that began with Leqembi’s 2023 approval, Biogen's North America head Alisha Alaimo said on an investor call. While the market infrastructure is now “maturing,” patient and caregiver awareness of the new treatment remains low—highlighting the need for more targeted messaging and awareness campaigns.
“We believe that our disciplined execution, efficient investments and our ability to adapt to evolving market dynamics positions us to sustain this momentum and deliver continued growth,” Alaimo said of Leqembi.
Leqembi shares the Alzheimer’s market with Eli Lilly’s Kisunla, another treatment option that Biogen hoped would help expand the market. While the FDA recently approved a new dosing regimen of the Lilly-made rival, Biogen still isn’t sweating and notes that Kisunla’s growth is consolidated around doctors who “are already prescribing Leqembi” as well.
Next month, the FDA is set to decide on a subcutaneous autoinjector version of Leqembi, a key convenience option and optionality that “our competitor doesn’t have,” Alaimo pointed out. However, the company doesn’t expect all of its patients to pivot to the subcutaneous version as the standard IV maintenance therapies have been “really welcomed” by the community.
Another key up for Leqembi is the FDA approval of a blood-based biomarker test that can help diagnose Alzheimer’s, a significant milestone as Biogen and Eisai had long attributed a complicated diagnosis process to tepid growth. As it stands, the blood tests are evolving at an “incredible pace,” according to Alaimo.
“We do believe this is a pivotal moment,” the exec said, pointing to the high awareness of the “convenient, faster and cheaper” tests. Still, continued education efforts are crucial to establish the tests as “the standard.”
With a “stronger expected business outlook” for the rest of the year, Biogen raised its full-year guidance to flat compared to 2024, up from a previously forecast mid-single-digit decline.
Biogen remains “increasingly confident” in the “future Biogen,” CEO Chris Viehbacher summed up.
“I think we’ve got the company really firing on all cylinders.”
While the company’s legacy multiple sclerosis franchise also beat expectations, William Blair analysts don’t expect it to be a continued growth driver amid genericization pressures and greater use of anti-CD20 therapies. Still, Biogen views the portfolio as an “important contributor to our cash flow,” Alaimo said. The drugs brought in a combined $1.1 billion, down 4%. Biogen attributed the franchise’s “resilience” to demand for its 2019-approved Vumerity but noted that newer product launches helped offset the decline.
One of those new launches is Skyclarys, Biogen’s treatment for Friedreich’s ataxia, which is now available in 29 countries. In the U.S., the company is making “focused investments” to reach community health practitioners, who accounted for about 70% of new patient starts during the quarter. The shift in strategy was part of a “deliberate pivot” to target patients with a different profile, Alaimo said. While continued growth is expected, results may fluctuate quarter to quarter as it can take time to identify eligible patients, she added.