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Biotech Peer Group Profits Up

Combined total revenues for a peer group of 35 mid-cap biotech companies increased from $24.8 billion in 2013 to $26.5 billion in 2014, a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 21.9 percent, according to research and consulting firm GlobalData.
The latest report from GlobalData notes that this growth rate was somewhat slower than during the previous five years. Total revenues for this peer group expanded at a CAGR of 25.2 percent between 2009 and 2013.
The rise in biotech peer group total revenue over the past year was fueled by Regeneron and Alexion, both of which posted sales of more than $2 billion in 2014, according to Adam Dion, GlobalData’s healthcare industry analyst.
“Regeneron’s sales grew by 34 percent in 2014, as the company continued its commercialization of Eylea (afilibercept) to markets outside the US, including for the treatment of macular edema secondary to central retinal vein occlusion in both the EU and Japan,” Dion says.
“Alexion saw sales from its orphan drug Soliris (eculizumab) increase from $1.6 billion in 2013 to $2.2 billion in 2014. Alexion reported a higher volume of unit shipments and better-than-expected demand for Soliris across all geographic regions, especially in the EU, thanks to a reimbursement agreement with the French government,” he adds.
Pharmacyclics, which was acquired by AbbVie last month, was the peer group’s top revenue growth leader in 2014, says Dion. Its sales shot up by 180 percent in 2014 to $729 million, representing an absolute dollar increase of nearly $470 million.
GlobalData attributes this surge to Pharmacyclics recognizing nearly $493 million in new product revenue from sales of Imbruvica (ibrutinib), the company’s first-in-class BTK inhibitor approved to treat blood cancer patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia and mantle cell lymphoma.
Some companies experienced drops in sales, including Vertex, which saw revenues decline by 52.1 percent from $1.2 billion in 2013 to $580.4 million in 2014.
Source: European Pharmaceutical Review
Published: April 8, 2015