Vertex Pharmaceuticals became one of the world’s largest biotechnology companies thanks to a series of successful cystic fibrosis drugs that have helped many patients live longer, better lives. A fresh earnings report shows those drugs remain on an upward trajectory, with revenue from them increasing by double digits in the second quarter to crest above $3.2 billion.
That performance not only surpassed Wall Street estimates, but pushed Vertex to hike its annual guidance. The company now expects $13.1 billion to $13.2 billion in total revenue this year — up from a prior range $12.95 billion to $13.1 billion. Multiple analysts described the earnings as a “solid beat and raise.”
Yet, a small rival poses a potentially big problem for Vertex’s star franchise. In the coming weeks, fellow Boston-area biotech Sionna Therapeutics should have data from an important study of its most advanced cystic fibrosis drug. How the trial shakes out will likely set the tone as to whether Sionna is a real threat. The readout “looms large,” according Christopher Raymond, a Raymond James analyst who covers Vertex.
In a note to clients, Raymond wrote that his team’s lone — and “outsized” — concern for Vertex “centers around the potential for competition” from Sionna, which is designing drugs to stabilize the defunct protein that causes cystic fibrosis. Specifically, Sionna’s approach is to pair stabilizers with either standard treatments, like Vertex’s Trikafta, or the company’s own complementary protein modulators.
