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Bristol increases guidance on high demand for Eliquis and new drugs – BNN Bloomberg
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Bristol increases guidance on high demand for Eliquis and new drugs – BNN Bloomberg

(Bloomberg) — Bristol Myers Squibb Co. raised its 2024 earnings forecast after reporting better-than-expected revenue and profits, fueled by demand for the blood thinner Eliquis and several newer treatments.

Adjusted earnings for the year will be between 75 cents and 95 cents per share, the Princeton, New Jersey-based pharmaceutical maker said in a statement Thursday, an increase of 10 cents at the midpoint of its forecast. previous.

Shares of the company were largely unchanged in premarket trading.

The results could give investors more confidence as Bristol’s major drugs face fierce competition and new pricing pressure. The company’s shares are up just 2.6% this year through Wednesday’s close, compared with a 22% rise for the S&P 500.

Two of its biggest sellers – cancer immunotherapy Eliquis and Opdivo – will lose patent exclusivity in the coming years. Cancer blockbuster Revlimid is suffering from generic competition, while Eliquis will be one of the first drugs to face US government pricing negotiations in 2026.

Eliquis sales rose 11% from the same period last year, beating analysts’ estimates.

Heart drug Camzyos, anemia treatment Reblozyl and lymphoma treatment Breyanzi – three newer products that are important to the drugmaker’s future – also exceeded expectations.

Bristol’s new drugs — what it calls its “growth portfolio” — account for nearly half of the company’s business, according to Chief Financial Officer David Elkins.

“You’re really able to see the future of the company,” Elkins said in an interview.

Bristol’s total sales for the quarter were $11.9 billion, beating analysts’ average estimate of $11.3 billion. The company reported third-quarter adjusted earnings per share of $1.80, above analysts’ expectations of $1.49.

Bristol spent more than $20 billion last year to strengthen its pipeline. The $14 billion acquisition of Karuna Therapeutics led to a treatment for schizophrenia, which was approved in the United States in late September as the first new type of mental illness drug in seven decades. On Monday, Bristol began selling the drug, Cobenfy, and initial feedback from doctors “has been very positive,” said Adam Lenkowsky, Bristol’s chief marketing officer.

Last year, Bristol also agreed to buy RayzeBio Inc., maker of experimental radiation therapies, for $4.1 billion, and Mirati Therapeutics Inc., maker of cancer drugs, for $4.8 billion.

Bristol is working on a $1.5 billion cost-cutting program, cutting about 2,200 jobs and abandoning about 12 drug development programs. CEO Christopher Boerner, who took the reins in November last year, said the company would return to sustained growth from around 2028.

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