Regeneron preliminary Q4 US sales of Eylea below expectations

(Reuters) – Regeneron (NASDAQ:) Pharmaceuticals on Monday reported eye drug Eylea’s fourth-quarter U.S. preliminary sales, which came below Wall Street expectations, as the company’s blockbuster product faced pressure from a rival.

The company garnered $1.34 billion in U.S. sales, while Wells Fargo analyst Mohit Bansal last week pegged consensus Wall Street estimates for U.S. sales of Eylea at $1.53 billion.

Eylea, jointly developed with Bayer AG (ETR:), has driven Regeneron’s earnings for years, but its sales have come under pressure, partly from Roche’s Vabysmo that secured U.S. approval in 2022.

Regeneron has set its hopes on a higher-dose version of Eylea. U.S. sales of the version came in at about $123 million in the quarter, the company said. (This story has been corrected to say Roche’s Vabysmo was approved in 2022, not last year, in paragraph 3)