Biotech group Biogen boosted by sales of key drugs

Biogen, the neuroscience-focused biotech company, raised full-year guidance and beat earnings and revenue expectations, driven by sales of drugs for multiple sclerosis and the serious genetic disease spinal muscular atrophy.

The Cambridge, Massachusetts-based company said it now expects revenue of about $14bn to $14.2bn for the full year, up from its prior guidance of between $13.6bn to $13.8bn. It raised its forecasts for statutory diluted earnings per share to between $29.60 and $30.40, an increase from the previous range of between $26.65 and $27.65.

Michel Vounatsos, Biogen’s chief executive, said the company was on track for a “strong year”. He said the company has added four new assets to its pipeline, including two from its March acquisition of Nightstar Therapeutics for $877m.

In the second quarter, Biogen reported better than expected adjusted earnings per share of $9.15, significantly higher than the average analyst estimate for $7.53.

Net income was $1.5bn, 72 per cent higher than the same period last year, when the company spent on several deals including a 10-year pact with Ionis Pharmaceuticals and the acquisition of an asset it hopes could be used to treat schizophrenia from Pfizer.

Revenues were $3.6bn in the quarter, compared to the consensus forecast of $3.47bn, and up 8 per cent year-on-year.

Biogen’s stock plummeted earlier this year after it shut down a trial for a treatment for Alzheimers, along with its partner Japanese pharmaceutical company Eisai. The failure in a key disease area wiped $18bn from its market capitalisation in one day. Shares in Biogen, which are far from fully recovering their losses, rose 1 per cent on Tuesday to $234.48.