Rollout of Regeneron’s new eczema drug could be most lucrative of the year – Albany Times Union

Regeneron makes an eye disease drug and a cholesterol drug in East Greenbush. The Tarrytown drug company had $4.1 billion in revenue in 2015.

Regeneron makes an eye disease drug and a cholesterol drug in East Greenbush. The Tarrytown drug company had $4.1 billion in revenue in 2015.

The sign outside of Regeneron's East Greenbush facility. ORG XMIT: MER2015091110332269

The sign outside of Regeneron's East Greenbush facility. ORG XMIT: MER2015091110332269

Rollout of Regeneron's new eczema drug could be most lucrative of the year

East Greenbush

A new eczema treatment could be worth billions of dollars for Tarrytown-based Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, which has its manufacturing operations in East Greenbush.

Barely three months into the year, analysts are predicting the company's pending Dupixent drug could be the most lucrative pharmaceutical launch of 2017, with annual revenues topping $4.6 billion by 2022, according to EvaluatePharma, a biotech research group.

The drug, which is awaiting approval from the Food and Drug Administration, would be the first treatment of its kind for the estimated 8.5 million people who suffer from moderate and severe variations of the skin disease. Until now, the condition was usually treated with steroid creams.

The launch of the drug could pose a test for the company, which has previously broken from other drug industry leaders that have turned to price increases, and mergers and acquisitions, to bolster revenue.

To hit peak annual sales, Dupixent would have to carry a $25,000 per customer per year price tag, but Regeneron said it would prefer to keep those prices reasonable.

"There is no competition, so from a market perspective we would be free to price the drug at a very robust price," Regeneron CEO Leonard Schleifer told the Financial Times Monday. "But I feel that we should be responsible, and price the drug responsibly."

The news follows a rough period during which Regeneron's stock slid by 30 percent last year as the result of a patent suit with rival Amgen over anti-cholesterol drug Praluent. The drug was initially banned from U.S. sales last year but later allowed after a federal appeals court granted a stay in February.

The brief downturn hasn't slowed Regeneron's operations in the Capital Region, where it continues to expand and build after a decade of skyrocketing international sales and revenue. Last month, the company's plan for a warehouse of up to 190,000 square feet was approved by the East Greenbush Town Board. The 98-acre site in Mill Creek Commerce Park will create 100 new jobs over two years with a payroll of $5 million, according to the environmental impact statement, bringing the company's total Capital Region employment number to nearly 2,000.

Shares (Nasdaq: REGN) gained 65 cents Monday to close at $388.88.

RDownen@timesunion.com - 518-454-5018 - Follow @RobertDownenTU

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Rollout of Regeneron's new eczema drug could be most lucrative of the year - Albany Times Union