Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX 2.35%) announced its fourth-quarter financial results on Thursday afternoon, which were above analyst expectations. For the three months ending on Dec. 31, Vertex reported $1.4 billion in product revenues, which was substantially above the $868 million reported in Q4 2018. In comparison, analysts were expecting only $1.0 billion in Q4 2019 revenues.
In terms of specific drug sales, Trikafta was Vertex's best-selling product this quarter, accounting for $420 million in revenue. Approved in October 2019 as a treatment for cystic fibrosis, Trikafta was seen as the next potential blockbuster drug for Vertex. The drug costs approximately $311,000 for a year's worth of treatment.
Image source: Getty Images.
Other key drug sales include the biotech company's other cystic fibrosis treatments. Symdeko/Symkevi, which brought in $332 million in revenue, is up 12.9% from last year, while Orkambi generated $270 million, a 14.3% decrease from the same period in 2018. The last cystic fibrosis drug, Kalydeco, also saw revenues fall by 8.9% over the past 12 months, generating just $236 million.
Further details
Trikafta is Vertex's newest cystic fibrosis treatment, and while sales in the company's other drugs are expected to fall a bit, the increase in Trikafta sales is predicted to make up for it.
Net income came in at $583.2 million, while the company's earnings-per-share (EPS) was reported at $2.23, a significant improvement from the $1.21 EPS expected by analysts. Vertex expects revenues for 2020 to come in somewhere between $5.1 billion to $5.3 billion, a sizable increase from 2019's $4.16 billion revenue figure.
