The five biggest winners in pharma of 2022 so far

The pharma sector is having a challenging year. Labor shortages, continued supply chain disruptions and rising costs are all putting pressure on profit margins.

Research by Evaluate Pharma has found that only a fifth of the largest pharma companies (those that are worth at least US$250 m) have ended the first half of the year in profit.

Despite this downturn there have been significant gains. Here we take a look at the biggest winners of 2022 so far.

Bristol Myers Squibb

Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS) has seen its share price jump by 23 percent, the biggest rise of the year to date. This is in part due to deucravacitinib, its promising new drug for psoriasis, which is to be reviewed by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in September. BMS has stated that the drug could reach $4 bn in sales.

The company’s top-selling drug, the multiple myeloma drug Revlimid, has reported more sales than expected given that it now has competition from generics.

Additionally, sales of its CAR-T therapy Abecma, for patients with multiple myeloma that has not responded to other treatments, is outpacing supply. To meet this growing demand, BMS is planning to open new manufacturing plants, including sites in the US and Netherlands set to open in 2023 and 2024 respectively.

Merck

Merck & Co’s share price has risen by 19 percent this year. Merck’s Gardasil vaccine, which protects against cancers caused by the human papillomavirus (HPV), has seen a 36 percent increase in sales.

Meanwhile its top-performing drug – the skin cancer medication Keytruda – has had record sales, netting the company $5.3 bn in the second quarter of 2022.

In order to remain profitable however, Merck may well need to diversify its portfolio, as competitors will be able to start producing generic versions of Keytruda in 2028.

Eli Lilly

Eli Lilly has seen its share price increase by 17 percent, aided by new drug launches including the diabetes drug Mounjaro. Among its existing portfolio, best-sellers have included chemotherapy drug Alimta with a revenue of approximately $250 m, and its Covid-19 antibody treatment. The cocktail of bamlanivimab and etesevimab was approved for emergency use by the FDA in February to treat mild to moderate cases of the virus.

The US pharma company has also been involved in one of the biggest deals of the year so far, selling its trademark medication for erectile dysfunction Tadalafil, also known as Cialis, to Lotus Pharmaceutical Co for $ 57.5 m.

Vertex

With share price gains of 28 percent this year, Vertex Pharmaceuticals may well be having the best year out of all the companies on our list. Its research into stem cell therapy in particular, is set to become one of the breakthrough discoveries of 2022.

Together with CRISPR Therapeutics, Vertex has developed exa-cel, a gene-editing therapy that promises to be a one-time cure for severe sickle cell disease. It has been granted Fast Track designation from the FDA as well as Orphan Drug Designation from the European Commission.

More recently Vertex announced it was acquiring biotech company ViaCyte in a deal worth $ 320 m. Based on stem cell-derived cell replacement therapies, ViaCyte develops treatments for Type 1 diabetes.

Takeda

Despite high inflation hitting Japan, Takeda has reported share price gains of 22 percent and a 2.4 rise increase in revenue compared to the same period last year. These gains are largely due to growth in the company’s core areas of gastroenterology, rare genetics and immunology.

Takeda has also played a key role in the domestic Covid-19 vaccination program, and is awaiting approval from the European Medicines Agency (EMA) for its Dengue fever vaccine, which is also likely to impact share price.

Quick links:

• The top 10 pharma companies on the 2022 Fortune 500 list
• Pfizer to supply all its medicines to low-income countries for no profit

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