Pharmaceutical companies Bayer (BAYR.Y 0.05%), Eli Lilly (LLY 2.66%), and AstraZeneca (AZN +0.00%) had big years last year, bucking the rest of the market, and each stock saw share gains over the past year.
All three companies have new drugs that were either recently launched or are likely to get final regulatory approval in 2023. As such, investors should expect to again see share price and revenue gains this year for the trio. Let's find out a bit more about these three pharmaceutical growth stocks.
1. Bayer is just getting started
Bayer's stock is up more than 4.5% over the past year, thanks to strong financials and an even stronger pipeline. The company reported nine-month sales of $41.5 billion, up 17.5% year over year, and a nine-month net income of $3.8 billion, compared to a loss of $172.8 million in the same period a year ago.
OTC: BAYR.Y
Key Data Points
The German company is seeing strong sales from some of its newer drugs, especially prostate cancer treatment Nubeqa. The drug saw sales of $330 million through nine months in 2022, up 105% year over year.
On Tuesday, at the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco, company management said Nubeqa and cardio-renal disease drug Kerendia could each see peak annual sales of more than $3.2 billion. Kerendia, the only approved nonsteroidal mineralocorticoid receptor antagonist, was approved in 2021 for chronic kidney disease associated with type 2 diabetes but has broader potential across endocrinology, nephrology, and cardiology, the company said.
Bayer is also optimistic about the potential for elinzanetant as a non-hormonal treatment for hot flashes in menopausal women. The company said that 16 million women each in Europe and the U.S. have hot flashes, but there are limited treatments available. The drug is one of seven phase 3 programs for Bayer and one of 36 programs in clinical trials, and it said that elinzanetant could launch as early as 2025.
The company also sees huge potential for blood clot therapy asundexian, used to prevent thrombosis and ischemic strokes. The once-a-day pill is in late-stage trials and has the potential for $5.3 billion in annual sales.
2. Taking a peek at Lilly's pipeline
Lilly's shares have been up more than 38% in the past year. That's as much due to the company's expected drug launches as it is to the company's 2022 sales.
NYSE: LLY
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The company said it expects to launch four new therapies in the coming months: donanemab for early Alzheimer's disease; mirikizumab for ulcerative colitis; lebrikizumab for atopic dermatitis; a cancer therapy pirtobrutinib, a Bruton's tyrosine kinase (BTK) inhibitor.
That doesn't count a potential label expansion for diabetes drug Mounjaro (tirzepatide) as an obesity drug, possibly as soon as late 2023.
The company forecast 2023 revenue of between $30.3 billion and $30.8 billion, a boost from 2022 guidance of between $28.5 billion and $29 billion, with EPS between $7.65 to $7.85, compared to the range of $6.50 to $6.65 forecast for 2022.
Lilly CFO Anat Ashkenazi, speaking at the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference, added that there are five more therapies that could be on the way soon, including once-weekly insulin, a next-gen Alzheimer's disease treatment named remternetug, oral therapy imlunestrant, a selective estrogen receptor degrader to treat breast cancer, and two other diabetes-obesity drugs: orforglipron and retatrutide.
3. Testing AstraZeneca's pulse
AstraZeneca's stock is up 20% over the past year. The company has a huge pipeline with 179 programs. Its $1.8 billion acquisition of CinCor Pharma was announced Jan. 9 and the announcement included information on a phase 2 trial that reduced hypertension in patients whose conditions were resistant to other forms of treatment. Baxdrostat is designed to block the enzyme that creates the hormone aldosterone, which is a key contributor to hypertension.
NASDAQ: AZN
Key Data Points
On Jan. 11, the company gained approval for Airsupra (albuterol/budesonide) as the only rescue medication to reduce the risk of asthma exacerbations in adults. Asthma affects roughly 262 million people worldwide.
This year, the company said it expects regulatory decisions from the FDA on 12 programs, led by breast cancer and gastric cancer drug Enhertu and gastrointestinal tract cancer drug Imfinzi.
Through nine months, the company reported revenue of $33.14 billion, up 30% year over year, and a core EPS of $5.28, up 47% over the same period in 2021. Looking forward, the company said it expects revenue to have a compound annual growth rate in the low double digits through 2025.
