Dive Brief:
- Pfizer's breast cancer drug Ibrance earned $942 million during the first half of this year, putting it on track to reach blockbuster status by next quarter, according to the company's second quarter earnings announcement.
- Sales of Ibrance have increased by nearly $100 million each quarter since its launch, reaching $514 million in revenues last quarter. The drug pulled in just $140 million during the same period a year prior.
- Meanwhile, patent expiries and increased competition impacted Pfizer's more established drugs. Over all, legacy products generated $118 million less in sales this quarter; and pneumonia antibiotic Zyvox, whose patent expired late 2015, saw a 55% decline in sales. Sales of Viagra, Enbrel and the Prevnar vaccines also declined last quarter.
Dive Insight:
Pfizer's Ibrance has enjoyed impressive success over the past year.
The Food and Drug Administration granted the breast cancer drug accelerated approval in February last year, after strong results proved efficacy. Ibrance is the first CDK 4/6 inhibitor on the market in the U.S.
And just last month, Pfizer released the results of its PALOMA-2 trial to confirm the treatment's efficacy for post-menopausal women with estrogen receptor-positive, EGFR 2-negative advanced breast cancer.
But Ibrance may soon face new competition. Both Novartis and Eli Lilly are currently developing CDK 4/6 inhibitors to treat breast cancer as well.
A Phase 3 study of Novartis' experimental drug ribociclib was stopped early last May after positive results. And that same month, Eli Lilly released positive phase 1 trial results for its own CDK 4/6 inhibitor against a range of cancers.
Lilly has already reported promising results for the drug in women with HR+/HER2- metastatic beast cancer.
However, even if the FDA approves Novartis' ribociclib later this year, an analysis by Evaluate Pharma concludes Ibrance will stay in the lead given its pole position on the market, forecasting $5.3 billion in global sales by 2022.
Despite some heavy losses due to patent expires and increased competition, Pfizer's second quarter earnings were positive.
“Overall, I am pleased with our second-quarter 2016 financial results and with our ability to continue delivering shareholder value through prudent capital allocation," said Frank D'Amelio, Pfizer's Chief Financial Officer. "We grew revenues by 4% operationally, excluding the impact of foreign exchange and legacy Hospira operations."
Including revenues from Pfizer's Hospira acquisition, the company's revenues reached $13.1 billion last quarter, marking a $1.3 billion increase (11%) from the same period last year, marking a second-straight-quarter of over 10% growth due to the acquisition.