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February 4, 2020 Bioscience Notebook 

Alexion sees sales, profits rise in 2019

PHOTO | Contributed Alexion, AstraZeneca Rare Disease's research facility at 100 College St. in New Haven.
By Natalie Missakian

Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc. saw its fourth-quarter revenues and profits climb in 2019, an increase driven by strong sales and an expanded market for the company’s two rare disease drugs, Soliris and Ultomiris.

For the quarter ended Dec. 31, Alexion reported adjusted earnings of $2.71 per diluted share, compared to $2.14 during the fourth quarter of 2018. Revenues rose 23 percent to $1.38 billion, compared to $1.18 billion a year ago.

Earnings beat Wall Street analysts’ forecast of $2.62 a share, according to the consensus estimate by Zacks Investment Research. 

For the year, Alexion brought in $4.99 billion in sales, up from $4.13 billion in 2018. Alexion said its adjusted earnings were $10.53 per diluted share, a 33-percent increase over last year’s earnings of $7.92.

“In 2019, we continued to strengthen the foundation of our business by executing on our strategy to lead, expand and diversify,” said CEO Ludwig Hantson in a statement. 

Hantson cited the company’s successful launch of Ultomiris for paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria, a rare blood disease. The drug is the successor to its blockbuster Soliris. 

He said the company also expanded its c5 inhibitor portfolio “to make neurology our largest franchise in the U.S,” and completed seven business development deals that added five clinical-stage drugs to its portfolio. 

For 2020, Alexion expects to earn $10.65 to $10.85 a share and generate $5.5 billion to $5.56 billion in sales. 

New Haven-born Alexion is headquartered in Boston but has a large research presence in the Elm City. 

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Biohaven Pharmaceuticals Holding Company Ltd. said last week it planned to sell 4.8 million shares at $51.75 a share in a public offering. It also named a seasoned biopharma exec to its board as it gears up to launch its new migraine drug, rimegepant.

Biohaven said the public offering aims to raise roughly $250 million to fund the commercialization of the drug. Biohaven said it would also use some of the proceeds for working capital, other corporate expenses and advancement of other drugs that are less further along in its pipeline.

Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC was the book-running manager of the offering. 

Meanwhile, the company said it tapped Michael Heffernan, a former sales and marketing executive at Eli Lilly and Co. and the founder of Massachusetts-based biopharma Collegium Pharmaceuticals, to serve on its board. The appointment was effective Jan. 31.

In a statement, Biohaven CEO Vlad Coric, MD said Heffernan “will be a tremendous asset to us in this first year of our anticipated commercial launch.” 

“Mike is an experienced commercial leader and entrepreneur who started and built his own company through commercialization,” said Coric. He also cited Heffernan’s industry experience in commercial operations, global sales and marketing, clinical development, regulatory affairs and business development. 

Board members Eric Aguiar and Bob Repella have stepped down from the board but will continue to work as consultants, Biohaven said. 

FDA approval of rimegepant is expected by the end of March. 

Contact Natalie Missakian at news@newhavenbiz.com.

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