Earnings
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s HHS nomination moves to a full Senate vote; Donald Trump’s tariff war sparks China-related concerns for biopharma; Pfizer, Merck and more announce Q4 and 2024 earnings; and the non-opioid painkiller space heats up as FDA approves Vertex’s Jounavx.
With just one asset in weight loss moving through the clinic, Pfizer targets the space for potential dealmaking, as well as bringing assets over from China.
Merck reported a 2% decline in Gardasil sales, after reaching a peak of $8.9 billion in 2023. Now with shipments to China paused, the HPV vaccine faces significant headwinds going into 2025.
Despite lackluster sales of Eylea’s high-dose formulation and Sanofi-partnered Dupixent, Regeneron beat Q4 forecasts overall thanks in part to cancer therapy Libtayo and gave shareholders a cut of the profits for the first time in the company’s long history.
AbbVie launched a revamped version of its Allē loyalty program, which ultimately was not adopted by providers. The marketing misstep comes as the company’s aesthetics franchise faces broader pressures.
After the Phase II failure of its lead asset from Cerevel, AbbVie is resetting expectations and narrowing the clinical program to an adjunct approach—for now.
Novartis was among the most prolific pharma dealmakers in 2024, a trend that it expects to continue with more bolt-on deals this year to set up for sustainable long-term growth.
Analysts were unfazed by the news that Takeda will cease development of soticlestat after Phase III failures, while responding positively to the announcement that Julie Kim will take the helm of the Japanese giant in 2026.
Sanofi’s jump in earnings comes with an increased emphasis on R&D and vaccines, plus an eye cast toward M&A to shore up its pipeline.
For 2025, Roche will continue a careful approach to high-priced deals, putting science at the center of its business development decisions, executives said Thursday.
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