Biogen lifts profit forecast, signals progress in turnaround effort

By Manas Mishra and Mariam Sunny

(Reuters) -Biogen lifted its full-year profit forecast on Thursday due to cost cuts and better-than-expected sales of its various treatments, even as the U.S. adoption of its Alzheimer's drug remains slow.

CEO Christopher Viehbacher, who is spearheading a turnaround at Biogen since taking over the top job in 2022, said the company was now positioned for growth after a series of cost-cutting efforts, multiple acquisitions and a narrowed focus on new launches.

"We're not done yet, and we've certainly had a few setbacks along the way. But I think we can now focus on sustainable growth," Viehbacher told reporters.

Biogen also beat estimates for profit in the second quarter, helped by better-than-expected performance of its newer drugs such as rare disease treatment Skyclarys as well as older multiple sclerosis treatments.

Sales of Alzheimer's drug Leqembi, which it sells with Japan's Eisai, came in at $40 million, modestly above estimates of $32 million.

Its take-up has been slow due to requirements such as additional diagnostic tests, twice-monthly infusions and regular brain scans, and its EU application was rejected last week.

The company also said it had decided to retain its biosimilars business after a year-long review.

In the second quarter, sales of older multiple sclerosis drug, which are facing competition from rivals, fell 4.9% to $1.15 billion but came in ahead of estimates of $1.4 billion.

Skyclarys brought in sales of $100 million for the quarter. Analysts had expected $92.06 million.

The drugmaker raised its 2024 adjusted per-share profit forecast to a range of $15.75 to $16.25 from $15 to $16 previously. The company's second-quarter adjusted profit of $5.28 per share beat estimates of $4.03.

Shares of the company were marginally higher at $214.44 in premarket trading.

This is overall a decent quarter, said Jefferies analyst Michael Yee, but said there was "no major thesis change".

(Reporting by Mariam Sunny and Manas Mishra in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D'Silva)