Amgen and Gilead Sciences released their respective Q1 2023 earnings reports Thursday afternoon.
Amgen’s total revenues decreased 2% to $6.1 billion due in part to lower other revenue from the company’s COVID-19 manufacturing collaboration.
The pharma giant recorded product sales growth driven by 14% volume growth, though this was partially offset by a series of factors. These include 5% lower net selling price, 3% unfavorable changes to estimated sales deductions, 2% lower inventory levels as well as a 2% negative impact from foreign exchange.
Contributing to the 14% volume growth were drugs like Evenity, Lumakras, Amjevita and Vectibix, among others.
Notably, Amgen’s GAAP earnings per share (EPS) nearly doubled from $2.68 to $5.28 due to mark-to-market gain on the investment in BeiGene.
Looking ahead, the company said it expects to close the $28 billion acquisition of Horizon Therapeutics in the first half of 2023. Additionally, it projects revenues in the range of $26.2 billion to $27.3 billion, with an EPS in the range of $15.38 to $16.59.
“We delivered 14% volume growth driven by the breadth of our portfolio and strong demand for our products globally,” Amgen CEO Robert A. Bradway said in a statement. “We look forward to closing the acquisition of Horizon Therapeutics and joining forces to reach more patients around the world with their innovative medicines.”
On its end, Gilead’s total revenues for the quarter slid 4% to $6.4 billion, which the company attributed to lower sales of Veklury, the company’s COVID-19 treatment. Total product sales fell 3% to $6.3 billion, but when excluding Veklury, that metric actually increased 15%.
Gilead’s EPS increased to $0.80 for the quarter, up from $0.02 during Q1 2022 thanks to a $2.7 billion in-process research and development impairment recorded during that period.
The company left its financial guidance unchanged for the rest of the year but the quarterly performance still missed on Wall Street expectations.
“Gilead’s track record of strong commercial and clinical execution continued through the first quarter of 2023. A 15% year-over-year revenue increase reflects growth in each of our core areas,” Gilead CEO Daniel O’Day said in a statement. “Biktarvy outperformed once again, and Oncology revenue increased 59% year-over-year, driven by Trodelvy and Cell Therapy. We look forward to helping even more people with Trodelvy following the approval for pre-treated HR+/HER2- metastatic breast cancer, making this the third U.S. approval for Trodelvy in three years.”
