Biogen’s results beat estimates on strength in rare disease drugs

By Mariam Sunny and Christy Santhosh

(Reuters) - Biogen (NASDAQ:BIIB) beat first-quarter profit and revenue expectations on Thursday, as strong demand for its rare disease drugs helped offset declining sales of its multiple sclerosis medicines.

The drugmaker has focused on deals, cost-cutting measures and newer drugs to address investor pressure for growth as demand falls for its once top-selling multiple sclerosis medicines in the face of stiff competition in a crowded treatment market.

The "relatively calm quarter" for Biogen showed positive signs of improvement, said BMO Capital Markets analysts.

Shares of the drugmaker rose 2.2%.

Biogen has been doubling down on its Alzheimer’s drug Leqembi, but it has failed to live up to lofty expectations due to concerns over cost, efficacy and side effects.

Leqembi and Eli Lilly (NYSE:LLY)’s rival drug Kisunla work by clearing sticky clumps of a protein called amyloid beta in the brain that is believed to be a hallmark of Alzheimer’s.

"It’s really a question of which one are you going to start on and then stay on," Biogen CEO Chris Viehbacher said about competition with Lilly’s drug, adding that it is more important to "collectively grow the market".

The drugmaker said it does not expect any material impact this year from the Trump administration’s sweeping tariffs implemented so far. Biogen said about 75% of its U.S. revenue last year came from products manufactured in the country.

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The company cut 2025 profit per share to between $14.50 and $15.50 from its previous forecast of $15.25 to $16.25, reflecting a $165 million charge related to a licensing deal signed in February.

It reported quarterly adjusted profit of $3.02 per share, beating analysts’ expectations of $2.52 per share.

U.S. sales of Leqembi, which the company sells with Japan’s Eisai, were $52 million for the first quarter, largely inline with analysts’ consensus estimate of $51 million, according to brokerage Jefferies.

Revenue rose 6% to $2.43 billion, beating expectations of $2.23 billion.

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