Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc.’s second-quarter profit rose on strong sales of the Cheshire drug maker’s blockbuster orphan treatment to more global patients with a rare form of anemia.
For three months ended June 30, Alexion netted $36.3 million, or 18 cents a share, up 4.4 percent from $34.7 million, or 18 cents a share, netted the same quarter last year.
Second-quarter revenues for its Soliris drug climbed 48 percent to $274.7 million vs. $185.7 million a year ago.
Alexion CEO Leonard Bell, M.D., said the revenue gain reflected steady additions of new patients with paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH) using Soliris in Alexion’s core territories of the U.S., Western Europe and Japan, as well as in new countries.
In addition, Bell said Soliris is now being used to treat growing numbers of new patients suffering with atypical hemolytic uremic syndrome (aHUS), another rare blood disorder that damages kidneys.
Meantime, Alexion’s cash pile continues mounting. It had $806 million in cash and cash equivalents on hand as of June 30, more than double the $359 million on hand at March 31. In May, Alexion netted $463 million fro the sale of five million shares.
That cash reserve will fund Alexion’s pipeline of five drug candidates aimed to treat at least eight ailments. It also can be used to fund acquisitions.
Alexion’s performance beat Wall Street’s estimates, sending the stock soaring in early morning trading Wednesday, up $4.88 a share, or 5 percent, to $102.50.
