Dive Brief:
- Overall, second quarter revenues for Biogen Idec (BI) were $2.06 billion -- an increase of 40% compared with Q2 2013. Net earnings were $714.5 million.
- Second-quarter sales of Tecfidera, a new oral MS drug, were $700.4 million, compared with Q2 2013 sales of $192 million.
- There were several stand-out performers during the second quarter, including other MS drugs in BI’s portfolio, as well as Rituxan (rituximab), a treatment of various cancers and rheumatoid arthritis (RA).
Dive Insight:
Tecfidera stood out as a rapidly growing MS drug despite being in a group of other well-performing drugs in the same therapeutic category. Biogen's alternative MS treatments, Avonex (interferon-beta-1a) and Tysrabi (natalizumab), were also strong performers. Other drugs that had solid sales growth included Rituxan (rituximab) for cancer and RA and Gazyva (obinutuzumab) for treatment of chronic lymphocytic leukemia.
BI's net profits were were up 46% overall. Based on that strong showing, analysts have upgraded the company's revenue growth forecasts for FY 2014 from 38% to 41%.