Risankizumab-RZAA

Sales in the biopharma industry trended up in the first quarter of this year as eight of the biopharma industry’s top-25 companies had double-digit year-over-year growth, with Eli Lilly outdistancing the field with a 56% sales increase. Biopharma sales trended upward in the first quarter of this year as eight of the industry’s top-25 companies achieved double-digit year-over-year growth, which was an uptick from a year ago. By comparison, in each of the four quarters of 2025, there were six drugmakers that had double-digit gains.In addition to juggernaut Eli Lilly (+56%), which has led the growth rankings each of the last six quarters, Regeneron (+19%), AstraZeneca (+13%), AbbVie (+12%), Sandoz (+11%) and Johnson & Johnson (+10%) accomplished double-digit growth in the first quarter of the year. Also pulling off the feat were Japanese drugmakers Astellas (+17%) and Daiichi Sankyo (+13%). Regeneron’s performance came after a year in which its sales grew by just 1% during the first quarter. Regeneron’s growth was its highest for a quarter since 2021, when sales spiked behind coronavirus antiviral REGEN-COV. Leading the way for Regeneron in Q1 was Sanofi-partnered Dupixent, which has seen a recent boost thanks in part to recent label expansions to treat COPD, urticaria and bullous pemphigoid. Dupixent sales were up 33% to $4.9 billion in Q1, helping the company overcome a 10% decline for Eylea, which saw its sales fall to below $1 billion for a quarter for the first time since 2018. AstraZeneca returned to double-digit growth in the first quarter after seeing sales increase by just 4% in the previous period. Doing the heavy lifting were AZ’s oncology and rare disease portfolios, which were up 20% and 19%, respectively. The company’s deep roster of medicines has put it in position to thrive for several years. In the quarter, AZ had 15 products that generated at least $300 million and thus are on track to achieve blockbuster sales this year. Of these, nine had double-digit growth in Q1 and only one of the 15 saw a decline in sales.AbbVie had its second straight quarter of double-digit growth. The last time the Illinois company put two double-digit quarters together was in 2021, when its immunology superstar Humira was in its prime. After four straight quarters of sales declines in 2023 as Humira faced biosimilar competition, AbbVie has recovered behind Skyrizi and Rinvoq. The duo generated a combined $6.6 billion in the first quarter, up from $5.1 billion a year ago. The $1.5 billion boost in the two immunology medicines accounted for nearly all of the company’s increase from quarterly revenue of $13.3 billion in Q1 of 2025 to $15.0 billion in 2026. Sandoz rode the success of its biosimilars portfolio, which was up by 27% to $853 million for the quarter thanks to a strong performance from Humira biosimilar Hyrimoz and the launches of Eylea knockoff Afqlir and Xgeva, plus Prolia copycats Wyost and Jubbonti.The first quarter performance for Johnson & Johnson was a milestone as it had not reached double-digit growth in a quarter since the pandemic, when it briefly sold its ill-fated COVID-19 vaccine. Divesting its consumer health unit Kenvue in 2023 has helped J&J achieve a higher growth rate. In Q1, J&J compensated for a steep falloff in sales of Stelara from $1.6 billion to $656 million, with big performances by cancer drug Darzalex and immunology standout Tremfya. While Darzalex drew sales of $4 billion, which were up 23%, Tremfya’s haul increased by 68% to $1.6 billion. With the results, J&J increased its annual revenue projection by $300 million at its guidance midpoint of $100.8 billion.Astellas continued its growth jag, which reached (PDF) 12% for its fiscal year. In FY 2025, Veozah (+37%), Padcev (+35%), Izervay (+33%) propelled the boost, along with prostate cancer treatment Xtandi (+5%), which generated JPY 961 billion ($6 billion) and accounted for 45% of the company’s revenue for the year. Like Astellas, Daiichi Sankyo has shown strong growth in recent years. But after peaking with a 25% revenue increase for FY 2023, the revenue increases for the ADC powerhouse have slowed, from 17% in FY 2024, to 13% in 2025 and to a projected (PDF) figure of 7% in FY 2026. During its quarterly presentation earlier this month, Daiichi unveiled a 5-year plan to become one of the top five oncology companies in the industry and established a goal to reach sales of 3 trillion yen ($19.1 billion) in 2030, up from 2.1 trillion yen ($13.2 billion) in FY 2025.Nearly making it to the double-digit group was Viatris, which had a 9% sales increase in Q1, providing another signal of its turnaround after revenue declines in each of the previous four years. After the company was formed though a merger of Mylan and Pfizer’s former generics unit Upjohn in 2020, it stripped down through divestitures and now is anticipating consistent revenue growth to the end of the decade. No slowdown for Lilly  Eli Lilly’s presence at No. 1 was expected. The Indianapolis drugmaker has led the industry growth rankings in each of the last six quarters. But its 56% growth rate was an eye-opener, as it topped the analyst consensus estimate by 13%.It was the highest quarterly sales increase for the company during its tirzepatide era, which began with the 2022 approval of Mounjaro. The diabetes treatment was the heavy lifter in Q1, with its sales increasing 125% to $8.7 billion, while obesity drug Zepbound pulled in $4.2 billion for an 80% increase.With the Q1 results, Lilly jacked up its 2026 revenue projection by $2 billion to a window of $82 billion to $85 billion. Increasing its annual estimates has become a quarterly routine for Lilly, which opened 2025 with sales guidance at between $58 billion and $61 billion and closed the year with revenue topping $65 million. Lilly’s competitor in the GLP-1 market, Novo Nordisk, continued its slide with sales declining by 10%. It was the largest sales decline in the industry in Q1 and the second straight quarter in which Novo was at the bottom of the top-25 growth rankings. There were positive signs from Novo, however, as its share price increased by 3% with its quarterly report, which included sales of its new obesity pill Wegovy coming in at $355 million.“The Wegovy pill is off to a record-breaking start in the U.S.,” Novo CEO Doustdar said on a May 6 analyst call. “Since launching it some 16 weeks ago, we have seen over one million people using Wegovy pill as the global momentum behind the peptide-based therapy accelerates.”Baking in the higher expectations for its GLP-1 products, Novo has adjusted its forecast for the year, expecting sales to work out to a 4%-to-12% decline, slightly softer than the 5%-to-13% decline the company guided to in February.  Other decliners in Q1 Sales for Novartis were down (PDF) by 1% in the first quarter, owed largely to generic competition for Entresto, which hit in the U.S. in July of last year. Revenue from the heart failure medicine plummeted from $2.3 billion in the first quarter of 2025 to $1.3 billion in this year’s first quarter. The overall decline for Novartis comes after it saw revenues increase by 12% in 2024 and 8% last year.Bayer, which is also facing generic and biosimilar competition for blood thinner Xarelto and eye disease drug Eylea, saw a 7% slide in sales in the quarter from combined sales of its pharma and consumer health units. The conglomerate expects the effects to subside in the second half and set the pharma division up for growth in 2027.  Roche had a 5% revenue decline in the first quarter, when tabulating sales in Swiss francs. At constant exchange rates, however, the company’s sales were up 6%. 

iStock, Dmytro Shtolko UCB’s Bimzelx elicited significantly stronger joint relief at 16 weeks than AbbVie’s Skyrizi in a Phase 3 head-to-head study of psoriatic arthritis. UCB’s Bimzelx has outperformed Skyrizi, AbbVie’s new immuno juggernaut, in a late-stage head-to-head psoriatic arthritis study. Phase 3 data released Tuesday showed patients on Bimzelx experienced significantly better joint outcomes than those on Skyrizi, according to a company release . The study measured this endpoint using the ACR50 , a tool used to assess clinical response that looks for at least a 50% improvement in joint symptoms, quality of life, functional performance and other metrics. At 16 weeks, 49.1% of patients on Bimzelx achieved ACR50, as compared with 38.4% of comparators on Skyrizi. This treatment difference was statistically significant, according to UCB. Bimzelx was also numerically better than Skyrizi in terms of minimal disease activity, which at 16 weeks was achieved by 43% of those on UCB’s drug versus 39.9% of participants on AbbVie’s asset. The result fell short of statistical significance, however, precluding further statistical analysis of other secondary endpoints due to the study’s hierarchical nature, UCB said. UCB nevertheless touted better outcomes across several other secondary measures, including joint relief at four weeks and complete clearance of psoriasis symptoms at 16 weeks. “Head-to-head trials are the most rigorous approach to comparative clinical research,” UCB’s Head of Patient Evidence Emmanuel Caeymaex said in a prepared statement. Tuesday’s readout adds to the body of knowledge “that can inform the treatment landscape for psoriatic arthritis.” Both Bimzelx and Skyrizi are approved to treat the condition and also share plaque psoriasis as an indication. AbbVie has used Skyrizi to gracefully ride out what would have been a devastating patent cliff for Humira, its mega-blockbuster immune drug that once reigned as the world’s most valuable pharma franchise. From a peak of $21.2 billion in 2022, Humira’s sales slid to $4.54 billion last year. Skyrizi, meanwhile, has been on a meteoric rise. In 2024, the drug overtook Humira with $11.7 billion in sales , 50.9% year-on-year growth. This trend has only continued, with Skyrizi surging 49.7% in 2025 to make $17.56 billion—and rank among the industry’s best-selling products. Earnings Keytruda Hangs On to Best Seller Crown as GLP-1s Gain Ground Merck’s Keytruda will soon lose exclusivity, just as weight-loss giants Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk press in with their blockbuster GLP-1s. March 4, 2026 · 9 min read · Tristan Manalac Read more For UCB, Tuesday’s triumph over AbbVie follows back-to-back acquisitions to deepen its pipeline. Earlier this month, the company fronted $2 billion to acquire Candid Therapeutics and its pipeline of therapies for autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. The deal also includes a potential $200 million more in milestones for Candid. Last month, UCB picked up Neurona Therapeutics for $650 million upfront and up to $500 million in milestones, gaining a cell therapy for epilepsy.