Horizon Falls as U.S. Vaccine Production Crunch Hits Drug Supply

(Bloomberg) -- Horizon Therapeutics Plc tumbled after saying a ramp in production of Covid-19 vaccines will hurt the supply of its soon-to-be blockbuster eye disease drug, Tepezza.

Government-mandated vaccine production orders tied to Operation Warp Speed have “dramatically restricted capacity available” for the production of Tepezza at Horizon’s drug product manufacturer Catalent Inc., the company said in a statement. The $15 billion specialty pharmaceutical company slumped as much as 10% in Thursday’s trading, marking its biggest drop since March 18.

Operation Warp Speed’s orders resulted in the cancellation of Tepezza production slots, which Horizon says were required to maintain supply of the drug. It is approved for the treatment of the rare and vision-threatening disease known as Thyroid Eye Disease. The disruption is expected to begin at the end of the month and could last through the first quarter, the company said in the statement.

Horizon still expects Tepezza sales to top $800 million for 2020. Wall Street anticipates annual sales will rise to $2.26 billion in 2023, data compiled by Bloomberg show. The shortage will also delay the start of planned studies for Tepezza in other indications until the second quarter of 2021, assuming commercial product supplies are not normalized.

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