Bristol Myers Squibb on Friday reported strong second-quarter results, led by the blood thinner Eliquis and cancer therapy Opdivo, as it looks to cut $1.5 billion in costs by 2025.
Bristol Myers Squibb on Friday released its second-quarter 2024 financial results, touting revenues that exceeded analyst expectations on the back of strong product sales and an ongoing cost-cutting initiative.
The pharma brought in $12.2 billion in Q2 revenues, representing an 11% year-on-year increase after adjusting for foreign exchange effects. BMS topped consensus analyst forecasts, which put its revenues at an estimated $11.54 billion, William Blair analyst Matt Phipps said in a note to investors. The company also beat William Blair’s internal earnings forecast of $11.51 billion.
BMS’ top-performing asset in the quarter was its blood thinner Eliquis (apixaban), which raked in nearly $3.5 billion worldwide, growing 7% from the same period in 2023. The anticoagulant was followed by the cancer treatment Opdivo (nivolumab), which grew 11% to hit almost $2.4 billion in sales, and the multiple myeloma drug Revlimid (lenalidomide), which earned more than $1.3 billion despite dropping 8%.
The CAR-T therapies Breyanzi (lisocabtagene maraleucel) and Abecma (idecabtagene vicleucel) also performed well in Q2, bringing in $153 million and $95 million, respectively. Breyanzi scored back-to-back FDA approvals in March 2024, opening up its use in chronic lymphocytic leukemia and small lymphocytic leukemia. This label expansion could have contributed to its 53% year-on-year growth in the quarter.
Encouraged by the performance of its portfolio, BMS raised its full-year 2024 guidance on Thursday. The pharma now expects earnings-per-share of 60 cents to 90 cents, up from its previous estimate of 40 cents to 70 cents per share. Total revenue growth is now estimated to be in the upper end of the low single-digit range.
“The beat in the quarter was again primarily driven by Revlimid, which has shown variability in its gradual generic decline, but also higher-than-expected sales of several legacy and growth products,” such as Opdivo, the anti-cancer drug Pomalyst (pomalidomide) and Reblozyl (luspatercept), indicated for anemia in beta-thalassemia and myelodysplastic syndromes, Phipps wrote.
BMS’ strong Q2 performance comes as the pharma continues to roll out sweeping cost-cutting measures. Announced in April 2024, the strategic realignment campaign will include laying off some 2,200 employees by the end of 2024 to generate approximately $1.5 billion in savings through 2025.
At the time, CEO Chris Boerner said that the effort will help BMS “prioritize investing in opportunities where we see the greatest potential.”
In line with this strategy, BMS on Thursday announced that it was scrapping the development of the bispecific T-cell engager alnuctamab, which was previously being developed for multiple myeloma. The pharma absorbed unspecified impairment charges for the discontinuation in Q2.
BMS also announced that its investigational anti-IL-13 antibody cendakimab aced its Phase III trial in eosinophilic esophagitis. Without revealing specific data, the pharma said that cendakimab elicited significant improvements in symptoms and esophageal eosinophil counts at 24 weeks.
