Welcome to the latest edition of MedReps Roundup, our digest of the news that matters to medical sales professionals. This week brings a bumper crop of earnings news, with a setback to Eli Lilly contrasting with beat-and-raise quarters at multiple drugmakers including Pfizer.
The GLP-1 growth machine suffered a setback last week when Lilly reported tirzepatide sales that fell more than $1 billion short of analyst expectations. Sales of diabetes therapy Mounjaro and weight-loss product Zepbound, both of which contain tirzepatide, came in below expectations in the third quarter. The shortfall prompted Lilly to cut $800 million from the upper end of its full-year sales guidance.
Investors responded by sending Lilly’s share price down 10%, despite some analysts noting extenuating circumstances. BMO Capital Markets analyst Evan Seigerman said the revenue shortfall is a reflection of “wholesaler inventory dynamics as Lilly sorts out its supply constraints,” not an indicator of “softness” in the underlying business.
Novo Nordisk, Lilly’s rival for the GLP-1 market, will report its earnings on Nov. 6. The Danish drugmaker was in the news last week after the FDA listed all dosages and versions of Wegovy and Ozempic as being available on its drug shortages database. The change could prevent the supply of compounded versions of semaglutide, the GLP-1 agonist in the products.
Beat-and-raise quarters
Lilly was far from the only drugmaker to report financial results last week. Under attack from an activist investor, Pfizer eased the pressure by delivering a beat-and-raise quarter. However, the beat was built on demand for COVID-19 antiviral Paxlovid, sales of which came in well ahead of expectations. Pfizer added $2 billion to its Paxlovid forecast but only $1.5 billion to its overall revenue guidance.
Management said the $500 million gap is “largely” attributable to the removal of sickle cell therapy Oxbryta from the market. Sales of non-COVID products grew 14% in the quarter, Pfizer said. Citi analysts called the $394 million in sales of bladder cancer therapy Padcev “disappointing.”
Pfizer’s ex-COVID growth came partly at the expense of GSK. While GSK stormed to a strong lead in the first year of respiratory syncytial virus vaccine sales, sales of its Arexvy shot came in below Pfizer’s Abrysvo in the third quarter. Arexvy sales fell 74%, contributing to a tough quarter for the British company.
Most other drugmakers that reported earnings last week raised their full-year forecasts in response to the results. Supported by drugs acquired in the Horizon Therapeutics buyout, Amgen grew revenues in the quarter and raised its outlook for the full year. Bristol Myers Squibb also raised its forecast.
AbbVie’s beat-and-raise quarter marked a milestone in its transition away from Humira. Skyrizi became the company’s best-selling drug in the quarter as its fast rise and Humira’s decline combined to knock the long-standing incumbent off the top spot. Rising sales of Skyrizi and Rinvoq enabled AbbVie to grow revenues despite a 37% drop in sales of Humira, which is facing competition from biosimilar copies.
Biogen was another member of the beat-and-raise club. The big biotech said product launches, including the rollout of the Alzheimer’s drug Leqembi, offset falling sales of multiple sclerosis treatments. Sales of Leqembi grew 33% in the U.S. However, with global sales reaching $67 million in the quarter, the drug is still a long way from living up to forecasts.
Novartis beat revenue expectations, too, driven by 47% growth in sales of radioligand therapy Pluvicto. The drugmaker also won FDA approval for Scemblix in a form of chronic myeloid leukemia. Novartis has predicted the product could generate peak annual sales in excess of $3 billion.
