April 29 (Reuters) – Regeneron Pharmaceuticals beat Wall Street estimates for first-quarter profit and revenue on Wednesday, helped by strong demand for its eczema drug, Dupixent, and cancer drug, Libtayo, offsetting competitive pressures faced by eye drug Eylea.
The company has been relying on Dupixent, which it co-develops with French drugmaker Sanofi, to counter weakness for eye drug Eylea, which faces competition from cheaper versions and rival treatments such as Roche’s Vabysmo.
Regeneron is trying to switch more patients to Eylea HD, the higher-dose version of the drug.
Shares of the company were, however, down 1.1% in premarket trading.
RBC Capital Markets analyst Brian Abrahams said the stock’s reaction was anticipated on softer Eylea HD sales due to lower wholesaler inventory levels, regulatory complexities for its pre-filled syringe version, and an experimental lung cancer drug combo not progressing to late-stage trials.
Quarterly sales for Dupixent, recorded by Sanofi, rose 33% to $4.88 billion, above analysts’ estimates of $4.59 billion, according to LSEG data.
Total Eylea sales, including the high dose, fell 10% to $941 million. Eylea HD sales rose 52% to $468 million, but were impacted by lower wholesaler inventory levels.
Last year, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration declined to approve a pre-filled syringe version of Eylea HD due to issues at contract manufacturer Catalent’s Indiana filling facility, now owned by Novo Holdings.
Regeneron said the regulator did not act by its April 2026 target date on the company’s application for a second contract manufacturer. The company anticipates a regulatory decision during the second quarter.
Sales of Regeneron’s cancer treatment, Libtayo rose 54% to $438 million.
Total quarterly revenue came in at $3.61 billion, above analysts’ expectations of $3.49 billion.
Last week, Regeneron struck a drug pricing deal with the U.S. government, wrapping up the final agreement among the 17 large pharmaceutical companies.
The Tarrytown, New York-based company posted a first-quarter adjusted profit of $9.47 per share, above analysts’ estimate of $8.94.
(Reporting by Kunal Das and Puyaan Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel)
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