Biohaven migraine drug sales continue growth in 1Q

Sales of Biohaven Pharmaceuticals’ migraine drug Nurtec ODT continued to grow during the first quarter of 2021 despite a winter surge in COVID-19 cases and other challenges, according to the company.

The New Haven drug company released preliminary figures ahead of its first-quarter earnings report showing the drug brought in $43.8 million in sales from January through March. 

That figure easily beat the $27.2 million forecasted by Bloomberg, according to Investor’s Business Daily, quoting a report by Mizuho Securities analyst Difei Yang. 

Biohaven said more than 500,000 prescriptions from more than 30,000 unique prescribers have been written for the drug since its launch in March 2020.

Sales were up from $35 million in the fourth quarter of 2020 and $18 million during quarter three of last year. 

In a statement, CEO Vlad Coric noted the growth occurred despite challenges such as “the typical first-quarter insurance dynamics” and a winter surge of COVID cases that impacted prescription volume. 

“We are beginning to see in-market dynamics improve as the vaccines roll out and look forward to continued market growth for this important new acute treatment of migraine,” BJ Jones, the company’s chief commercial officer, said in a statement. 

Nurtec ODT won Food and Drug Administration approval as an acute treatment for migraine attacks in February 2020. It is expected to be approved as a preventative treatment sometime this quarter.

Contact Natalie Missakian at news@newhavenbiz.com