Why did Regeneron Pharmaceuticals stock drop today? Roche gets FDA OK for Eylea rival
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After three consecutive sessions of gains, Regeneron (REGN
-3.5%) is trading lower as the market reacts to the rising competition in "wet" age-related macular degeneration (AMD) where the companyâs blockbuster therapy Eylea dominates.
Last Friday, the FDA approved Vabysmo, a rival therapy from Rocheâs (OTCQX:RHHBY
+0.6%) (OTCQX:RHHBF) Genentech for wet AMD and diabetic macular edema (DME). The company plans to launch the therapy in the coming weeks banking on its less frequent dosing interval.
According to Phase 3 data supporting its approval, in patients who received Vabysmo at intervals of up to four months, the vision gains were comparable to those who received Eylea (aflibercept) every two months in the first year.
Roche (OTCQX:RHHBY) plans to market the drug at an annual list price of $6,750 once patients reach the maintenance phase when they receive one dose every four months. 51% of ophthalmologists surveyed by Bernstein have indicated that the data set for Vabysmo was better than that for Eylea.
"We believe physicians will be initially careful with a new drug, but barring side effects, a fair assumption is that [Vabysmo] will be a meaningful competitor," reported BioPharma Dive
quoting analyst Ronny Gal.
The FDA approval for Vabysmo comes as Samsung Bioepis and Biogen (NASDAQ:BIIB) plans to launch the biosimilars for Lucentis in June. Marketed by Novartis (NYSE:NVS), Lucentis was launched for wet AMD before Eylea entered the market.
During the first nine months of 2021, Eylea netted $4.2B in sales for Regeneron (NASDAQ:REGN), making up more than 50% of its total net product sales.