Regeneron could reap big rewards from high-dose Eylea

Regeneron’s 19% stock surge yesterday added $12bn to its market cap, taking its valuation higher than that of the pharma giant GSK; investors were clearly impressed with data on high-dose Eylea. Two crucial pivotal trials succeeded in showing that the project, given at four-monthly intervals, worked as well as the original formulation, dosed every two months. Long-acting Eylea is a vital component of Regeneron’s defence against biosimilars, which could start in the US in 2024. And because the high-dose product will probably be filed under a new BLA it might be exempt from Medicare price negotiations. Analysts reckon the high-dose product could also help fend off a new rival, Roche’s bispecific Vabysmo, which is also available at long dosing intervals. SVB Securities pointed out that 77% of wet AMD patients managed to stay on high-dose Eylea dosed every four months, versus 45% for Vabysmo on this schedule. Echoing upgrades from across the sellside the bank substantially hiked future Eylea forecasts, adding a huge 30% to their 2030 estimate, to $17bn. Still, Roche recently presented two-year data showing that 45% had improved to 60% at two years, so the Vabysmo threat is far from neutralised.