Ionis' Q3 Earnings and Revenues Beat Estimates, New Launches in Focus

In This Article:

Key Takeaways

  • Ionis Pharmaceuticals lost 95 cents per share in Q3, less than the estimated loss of $1.16.

  • Total revenues for the company the last quarter was $134 million, a 7% decrease from last year.

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Ionis Pharmaceuticals IONS incurred a loss of 95 cents per share for third-quarter 2024, which was narrower than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of a loss of $1.16 per share.

Earnings include compensation expenses related to equity awards. Excluding these special items, adjusted loss per share was 72 cents compared with a loss of 85 cents per share in the year-ago quarter.

Total revenues were $134 million in the third quarter, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $129.0 million. Revenues declined 7% year over year.

Year to date, Ionis’ shares have declined 22.9% compared with the industry’s decrease of 3.6%.

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IONS' Commercial Revenues Decline

Ionis licensed Spinraza to Biogen BIIB, which is responsible for commercializing it. Spinraza is approved for treating spinal muscular atrophy, or SMA, worldwide. Ionis receives royalties from Biogen on Spinraza’s sales. Ionis and Biogen also market Qalsody (tofersen) for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) with superoxide dismutase 1 (SOD1) mutations. Qalsody was launched in the United States in 2023 and in the EU in May 2024.

Ionis and AstraZeneca’s AZN Wainua (eplontersen) was approved by the FDA in December 2023 for treating patients with hereditary transthyretin-mediated amyloid polyneuropathy, commonly called hATTR-PN or ATTRv-PN. AstraZeneca and Ionis co-market Wainua for ATTRv-PN in the United States. AstraZeneca has exclusive rights to commercialize Wainua in outside U.S. markets.

With the launch of Wainua in the United States, Ionis receives royalties from AstraZeneca, which is included in commercial revenues. Applications seeking approval of Wainua for ATTRv-PN are under review in the EU with a decision expected this year. In the reported quarter, the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use of the European Medicines Agency gave a positive opinion recommending approval of Wainua. Wainua was also approved in the United Kingdom in the quarter, resulting in a $30 million milestone payment from AstraZeneca.

Commercial revenues were $76 million in the third quarter, down 1.2% year over year. Commercial revenues missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $80 million.

Commercial revenues from Spinraza royalties were $57 million, down 15% year over. Spinraza sales, as recorded by Biogen, were $381.4 million, down 15% year over year. Spinraza royalties missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $62 million.

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