Madrigal Pharmaceuticals' Rezdiffra generated sales of $287 million in the third quarter for a 35% sequential jump from Q2. In just its fifth full quarter on the market, the world’s first treatment for metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH) is now annualizing at more than $1 billion.
While the numbers are heady and a second MASH treatment has recently entered the market, Madrigal says there is significant room for growth. Because the disorder is underdiagnosed, the company figures that competition from Novo Nordisk’s GLP-1 Wegovy—which gained an FDA label expansion to treat MASH three months ago—will help increase the patient pool.
“We welcome new entrants to this evolving market. Wegovy's recent approval in MASH adds momentum to a market that's just starting to take shape,” Madrigal CEO Bill Sibold said on a quarterly conference call. “Novo is targeting a much larger population, which will raise awareness and drive more screening, diagnosis and treatment.”
There’s considerable room to grow, even within the group of 315,000 patients who have been diagnosed with fatty liver disease and have been targeted by Madrigal. Through the third quarter, 29,300 patients have been prescribed Rezdiffra, which is up from 23,000 in the previous period.
As for quantifying any effects from Novo’s entrance into the market, Madrigal's CEO said it was too early to notice anything noteworthy.
“What we're excited about is having somebody else that is going to help us carry the load of increasing diagnosis. It’s not something that's been a focus of ours. It still remains not a focus of ours,” Sibold said. “But when we have somebody else who needs to have literally millions of patients that are diagnosed in order to serve their needs, that ultimately helps us.”
In Novo Nordisk's third-quarter conference call on Wednesday, execs said that the Danish pharma giant is targeting U.S. hematologists and gastroenterologists in its marketing efforts. Madrigal added on Tuesday that it has begun including endocrinologists in its marketing push.
“We’re seeing growing interest from endocrinologists,” Sibold explained. “These are specialists with a deep expertise in metabolic health who are interested in Rezdiffra’s mechanism and its potential in MASH.”
Since Madrigal revealed its results on Tuesday, its share price has increased by 20%.
Madrigal added in its presentation that it has secured a new patent for Rezdiffra, which is expected to extend its U.S. market protection until 2045. Also of note was that Madrigal has $1.1 billion in cash and cash equivalents on hand.