(Reuters) – Biogen cut its annual profit forecast below Wall Street expectations on Wednesday, on rising costs related to the recent acquisition of rare disease drugmaker Reata Pharmaceuticals and the launch of its Alzheimer’s treatment Leqembi.
The company had said in July it would cut about 1,000 jobs, or 11% of its workforce, to lower elevated costs compared to rivals and focus on higher-growth products such as Leqembi, which it sells with Japanese partner Eisai.
Since he was hired a year ago, CEO Christopher Viehbacher has led efforts to cut expenses and help Biogen recover from its missteps around the controversial Alzheimer’s drug Aduhelm that never gained traction.
Biogen is banking on the success of Leqembi and tuck-in deals like its recent $6.5 billion buyout of Reata Pharmaceuticals to grow its revenue. It has incurred integration costs of about $30 million related to the acquisition.
The drugmaker expects full-year adjusted profit per share in the range of $14.50 to $15.00 compared with $15 to $16 forecast previously. Analysts were expecting $15.26.
On an adjusted basis, Biogen earned $4.36 per share, beating analysts’ average estimate of $3.97, according to LSEG data.
(Reporting by Mariam Sunny and Bhanvi Satija in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun Koyyur)
