Allergan reports strong earnings for 2016

Allergan today announced total net revenues of $14.57 billion and $3.9 billion for the full year and fourth quarter, respectively, driven in part by growing sales of products from their eye care franchise.

Fourth quarter revenue for Ozurdex (dexamethasone intravitreal implant) was $22.6 million, up 18% from the same period of 2015. Allergan attributed this boost to the high demand for the product under its diabetic macular edema indication.

Restasis (cyclosporine ophthalmic emulsion) the company’s dry eye treatment brought in $393.1 million in Q4, a 13% increase from 2015, which Allergan attributes to demand and pricing. Shire’s widely promoted new dry eye product, Xiidra (lifitegrast) launched in September 2016.

On the other hand, the glaucoma franchise showed a 9% decline in sales of Lumigan (bimatoprost ophthalmic solution), which offset the 2% increase in Alphagan (brimonidine tartrate) and Combigan (brimonidine tartrate and timolol maleate) sales totaling $102.3 million.

In line with Allergan’s Social Contract with Patients, the 2017 U.S. list prices increased from those in 2016 by an average of 6.7%. After discounts and rebates, the net increase per product is predicted to be approximately 2% to 3%. In September 2016, CEO Brent Saunders vowed that branded product price hikes would only occur once per year and would not exceed single-digit percentages.

"We have taken bold actions to address issues impacting our industry and society. We are committed to our Social Contract with Patients, and our recent pricing actions are aligned with its principles,” said Saunders. “In November, we announced enhancements to our Patient Assistance Program (PAP) that position Allergan among industry leaders in providing free medicines for those who cannot afford our treatments. These commitments are important to the long-term stability of our company, but most importantly, they help the people who count on us to find and provide treatments for their most pressing medical needs.”