Biogen Tempers Outlook After Generic Rival Erodes MS Sales

(Bloomberg) -- Biogen Inc. lowered its financial outlook for the year and said it would buy back $5 billion in stock, as its biggest-selling medicine faced new generic competition.

• Revenue for the year is now expected to total between $13.2 billion and $13.4 billion, below the previously forecast range of $13.8 billion to $14.2 billion, the company said.

Key Insights

• Multiple-sclerosis treatment Tecfidera had sales of $953 million in the third quarter, below the $1.11 billion analysts expected. Mylan NV started selling a generic version of Tecfidera in August.
• Biogen said it is beginning to feel the effects of that competition, and that the change in its guidance assumes that sales of Tecfidera will erode significantly in the fourth quarter.
• Other big-selling drugs also saw lower sales. Spinraza, a treatment for spinal muscular atrophy, brought in $495 million in the quarter, down 9.5% from a year earlier.
• A panel of outside advisers to the Food and Drug Administration will weigh the evidence for approval of the company’s experimental Alzheimer’s drug aducanumab at a hearing early next month; a final decision could come early next year. The company said it has also filed an application seeking approval for aducanumab in Europe.

Market Reaction

Shares of Biogen declined 1% to $264.54 at 12:07 a.m. Wednesday in New York. Through the close of trading Tuesday, the stock had declined 10% this year.

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• Third-quarter adjusted earnings per share were $8.84, compared with $9.17 a year earlier. Analysts had expected $8.045, on average. Read more details here.
• See the company’s news release here.

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