(MENAFN- ProactiveInvestors) Biogen () tumbled today after the biotechnology company more than halved its sales growth forecast for 2015. Shares dropped 19 percent to C$312.02 at 2 p.m. in New York. The Cambridge Massachusetts-based company said it expects demand for its flagship multiple sclerosis (MS) drug Tecfidera to continue slowing this year in the United States.
For 2015 Biogen now forecasts global revenue growth of 6 percent to 8 percent roughly half the rate of 14 percent to 16 percent growth it had forecast in late January. The company said it now expects to post per-share earnings of $14.25 to $14.70 down from its prior guidance $15.45 a share to $15.85 a share in earnings.
“We obviously have a lot of work ahead of us as we strive to maximize the success of our commercial business and execute on our operational goals” chief executive officer George Scangos said in prepared remarks on a conference call with analysts.
Biogen’s revenue grew 7 percent to $2.59 billion in the quarter ended June 30 but lagged behind the Wall Street consensus estimate of $2.71 billion forecast by analysts according to Capital IQ.
Biogen’s profit rose to $927.3 million or $3.93 a share up from $714.5 million or $3.01 a share a year earlier.
A patient’s death on Tecfidera reported last year may have alarmed doctors and patients and slowed the drug’s growth Tony Kingsley Biogen’s head of global commercial operations said on a call with investors Bloomberg reported.
The drugmaker also faced setbacks in its development pipeline. A drug to treat nerve pain was scrapped after an unsuccessful trial. And the company said it’s considering whether to move ahead with late-stage tests of Tysabri for use in treating strokes after the drug failed to meet its main goal in a mid-stage trial.
Biogen is in search of new products to drive sales growth. On Wednesday the company announced some new data suggesting that its experimental Alzheimer's drug slowed the progression of the disease while researchers said a clinical trial of a Roche Holding AG compound indicated the therapy reduced the volume of a substance in the brains of patients that is believed to contribute to the disease.
Biogen said today that it is now actively recruiting for two late-stage studies of the drug.
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