Biogen CEO Optimistic Despite Financial Challenges, Eyes Growth with New Drug Launches
February 13, 2024
Chris Viehbacher, Biogen’s CEO, remains optimistic about the company’s future despite current financial difficulties. Biogen has experienced a decline in sales, with a 3% drop from 2022 to 2023, amounting to $9.8 billion. The company anticipates a further decrease in total revenue for 2024 but expects core pharmaceutical revenue to remain stable. Analysts have identified weak performance in Biogen’s spinal muscular atrophy drug, Spinraza, and the oral multiple sclerosis drug, Vumerity, as contributors to the downturn, with competition and pricing pressures cited as causes for the sales slump.
Despite the setbacks, Biogen focuses on growth opportunities presented by recent approvals of new drugs, such as Leqembi for Alzheimer’s disease and Skyclarys for Friedreich’s ataxia. Biogen sees these new products as future revenue drivers, set to replace declining sales from its legacy drugs gradually. The company’s significant losses of exclusivity are now behind them, although the potential competition from a biosimilar for its MS drug Tysabri looms.
Biogen mainly concentrates on the rollout of Leqembi, with about 2,000 patients currently receiving treatment, and plans to expand its marketing force to support the drug’s continued launch. Skyclarys has also reached a significant milestone with over a thousand patients being treated and has recently gained regulatory approval in the European Union. Sales distribution for Skyclarys is expected to mirror Spinraza’s, with a significant portion coming from international markets. Early access programs for Skyclarys have already been initiated in Germany and France, signaling the start of its EU launch.
To read more, click here.
[Source: Fierce Pharma, February 13th, 2024]
