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Thursday, August 7, 2025

Earnings call transcript: Akebia Ther Q2 2025 earnings miss, stock drops


Key Takeaways

  • Akebia’s revenue surpassed forecasts, with a 31.13% surprise.
  • EPS fell short of expectations, contributing to a significant stock drop.
  • Vasceo sales showed strong growth, with a 55% increase in demand sales.
  • The company ended Q2 with a solid cash position of $137.3 million.
  • Akebia plans to expand Vasceo’s reach significantly by Q4 2025.

Company Performance

Akebia Therapeutics demonstrated strong revenue growth compared to the previous year, with total revenues increasing from $43.6 million in Q2 2024 to $62.5 million in Q2 2025. This growth was driven by robust sales of its products, Vasceo and Auryxia. Despite the revenue boost, the company faced challenges with its EPS, which fell short of expectations, affecting investor sentiment. InvestingPro analysis reveals the company maintains a healthy liquidity position with a current ratio of 2.23 and operates with moderate debt levels. For deeper insights into Akebia’s financial health and growth potential, investors can access the comprehensive Pro Research Report, available exclusively to InvestingPro subscribers.

Financial Highlights

  • Revenue: $62.5 million, up from $43.6 million YoY
  • Net product revenues: $60.5 million, compared to $41.2 million YoY
  • Vasceo sales: $13.3 million
  • Auryxia sales: $47.2 million
  • Net income: $247,000, compared to a net loss of $8.6 million YoY
  • Cash and cash equivalents: $137.3 million at quarter-end

Earnings vs. Forecast

Akebia’s actual EPS of $0 missed the forecasted loss of $0.02 per share, resulting in a negative surprise of 100%. However, the company exceeded revenue expectations significantly, with a 31.13% surprise over the forecasted $47.64 million. This mixed performance highlights the challenges Akebia faces in balancing revenue growth with profitability.

Market Reaction

Following the earnings announcement, Akebia’s stock dropped 18.49% to $3.2 in pre-market trading. This decline reflects investor disappointment with the EPS miss, despite the strong revenue performance. The stock is trading near its 52-week low of $1.07, indicating market concerns about the company’s future earnings potential.

Outlook & Guidance

Looking forward, Akebia aims to expand the reach of Vasceo significantly, targeting over 275,000 patients by Q4 2025. The company is preparing for the VALOR trial for non-dialysis CKD patients, expected to initiate by the end of 2025. Akebia’s future revenue forecasts suggest continued growth, with projections of $201.81 million for FY 2025 and $274.57 million for FY 2026. InvestingPro data shows analyst price targets ranging from $6 to $10, with a strong consensus recommendation. Additional ProTips and detailed financial metrics are available to InvestingPro subscribers, offering valuable insights for investment decision-making.

Executive Commentary

John Butler, CEO of Akebia, noted, "We generated over $13,000,000 in vascular revenue in Q2, with approximately $12,000,000 in demand sales, a 55% increase over Q1." He emphasized the company’s strong cash position, stating, "Our revenue performance and cash balance allow us to execute this strategy and advance our early pipeline from a position of financial strength."

Risks and Challenges

  • Potential generic competition for Auryxia could impact future revenues.
  • The EPS miss highlights challenges in achieving profitability.
  • Expansion plans for Vasceo depend on successful market penetration.
  • Regulatory hurdles for label expansion to non-dialysis CKD patients.
  • Macroeconomic pressures could affect healthcare spending and reimbursement rates.

Q&A

During the earnings call, analysts inquired about patient segmentation and dosing strategies. Akebia provided insights into its plans for expanding Vasceo’s reach and potential collaborations with other dialysis providers. These discussions underscored the company’s strategic focus on broadening its market presence and addressing competitive challenges.

Full transcript - Akebia Ther (AKBA) Q2 2025:

Conference Operator: Good day and thank you for standing by. Welcome to the Akebia Second Quarter twenty twenty five Financial Results. At this time, all participants are in a listen only mode. After the speakers’ presentation, we’ll open up for questions. Please be advised that today’s call is being recorded.

I would now like to hand the conference over to your speaker, Mercedes Carrasco, Senior Director of Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

Mercedes Carrasco, Senior Director of Investor Relations, Akebia Therapeutics: Thank you, and welcome to Akebia’s Second Quarter twenty twenty five Financial Results and Business Update Conference Call. Please note that a press release was issued earlier today, Thursday, August 7, detailing our second quarter twenty twenty five financial results, and that release is available on the Investors section of our website. For your convenience, a replay of today’s call will also be available on our website after we conclude. Joining me for today’s call, we have John Butler, Chief Executive Officer Nick Grund, Chief Commercial Officer and Eric Ostranski, Chief Financial and Chief Business Officer. I’d like to remind everyone that this call includes forward looking statements.

Each forward looking statement on this call is subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in these statements. Additional information describing these risks is included in the financial results press release that we issued on August 7, as well as in the Risk Factors and Management Discussion and Analysis section of our most recent annual and quarterly reports filed with the SEC. With that, I’d like to introduce our CEO, John Butler.

John Butler, Chief Executive Officer, Akebia Therapeutics: Thanks, Mercedes, and thanks to everyone for joining us this morning. Since Vaseo vadadustat’s approval and even prior, I’ve spoken about our goal to make Vaseo a standard of care for patients with anemia due to chronic kidney disease. From my perspective, this endeavor has three parts. First, successfully launch Vaxio in dialysis during the TDAPA period. Second, continued growth in dialysis post TDAPA, potentially supported by the data, creating additional areas of differentiation.

And third, approval and launch of Vaxio to treat anemia of CKD in patients who are not on dialysis. That’s the journey we’re on, and I’m proud to report the progress we’ve made in each area during the second quarter and to date in Q3. I continue to be incredibly pleased with the progress of our launch. We generated over $13,000,000 in vascular revenue in Q2, with approximately $12,000,000 in demand sales, a 55% increase over Q1. In Q2, US Renal Care continued to represent the vast majority of our revenue.

We appreciate their foresight partnership and ongoing commitment to delivering innovative therapies to patients. But we have to broaden that access to achieve our goals. While we’re pleased with the first two quarters of launch, we really only had access to about 40,000 dialysis patients during those months through USRC and other smaller dialysis organizations that operationalized the protocol to easily enable prescribing. In Q2, we had expected to have broader access at the other two midsized dialysis providers, DCI and IRC, the fourth and fifth largest dialysis provider. Today, I’m pleased to report that both are now completing their processes to make Vaxio available.

As of September, we expect that physicians of these dialysis organizations will be able to write a prescription for Bacio without restriction, bringing the total patients with access to over 75,000. We believe this will enable a significant step up in growth. Even more significant from a volume and patient access perspective, DaVita, one of the largest dialysis providers, is completing preparations for its operational pilot for Basia. They’ve placed an initial order and expect patients to receive the drug starting in the August. Upon the successful completion of the pilot, we expect to increase patient access by more than six fold from 40,000 patients in Q1 and Q2 to at least 275,000 patients later in Q4.

Nick will give you more color on all of this launch progress and metrics. The second focus to drive Vastiode to become standard of care is to enhance the environment for growth post TDAPA. I’m very pleased to report the VOICE trial being conducted in collaboration with USRC has been fully enrolled as of late June. Over 2,100 patients enrolled in only seven months. I believe this clearly speaks to investigators’ interest in the potential benefits Vastio may bring their patients, and a desire to prove that dosing when administered during dialysis may be beneficial as well.

The timing of enrollment completion is important, as it means the study will complete in late twenty twenty six, with data available in early ’twenty seven, shortly after the end of TDAPO. A voice is an outcomes trial looking at all cause mortality and all cause hospitalization. While its primary endpoint is non inferiority, it’s powered to demonstrate potential superiority for vadadustat for all cause hospitalization. We believe any data demonstrating a positive clinical outcome will be critical in establishing Vaseo as the standard of care. We’re also pleased to have initiated VOCAL, a study looking at dosing of Vapsoe three times a week, being performed in 18 DaVita dialysis facilities.

This study will enroll about three fifty patients. An important and exciting substudy will look at characteristics of red blood cells in patients treated with Vasya. Now previous studies have shown that other HIF PHIs can improve the lifespan of red blood cell. I believe showing a potential positive impact on red blood cell characteristics, size, lifespan, oxygen carrying capacity with FAFCIO in a dialysis population can demonstrate the tangible differences a more physiologic approach to treating anemia can yield. The third area of focus is securing an indication for non dialysis patients in the vascular label.

Recall that while the stage four and five non dialysis population with anemia is roughly the same size as dialysis, about five hundred and fifty thousand patients, it doesn’t have the same pricing complexity that dialysis has in a post TDAPA setting, making it potentially four to five times larger than the $1,000,000,000 addressable market size of the dialysis market. We’ve continued to work to move this initiative forward. We completed a Type D meeting with the FDA in May. The meeting addressed a single focused written question to the agency related to the comparator arm for the VALORZ trial in MDD CKD. Based on FDA written feedback, we’re now planning for an active ESA comparator.


We believe this design will simplify the pooling of data with our prior Phase III US PROTECT program. We recently submitted a Type C meeting request to further discuss the study design, statistical analysis, and pooling strategy, and we’re working to initiate VALOR by the end of the year. The team at Akebia believes strongly that patients not on dialysis would benefit from access to Vaseo, and we’re working hard toward their goal to gain alignment with the FDA and be in a position to enroll the trial quickly. With the launch of Vazio and continued strong performance of Auryxia, we had over $60,000,000 in net product revenue in Q2, the highest level in the history of the company. In a moment, Eric will talk to you about our strong second quarter financial results and solid financial position.

But first, let me turn it over to Nick to give more color on the Vaxio launch and what we’re learning in the field. Thanks, John. Good morning, folks. As we work to build a new standard of care in treating CKD anemia in dialysis patients, we are taking a comprehensive and long term view on how to establish a successful brand in a large category. To this end, we are rapidly advancing efforts across multiple work streams, which include building patient access, broadening physician prescribing, and continuing physician education.

We are making great progress on all fronts. Let me begin with some updates on prescription volumes. During the launch, we are focusing on breadth, the number of physicians prescribing, and depth, the amount they are prescribing. We are very pleased to have seven twenty five prescribers write within quarter two, up from approximately six forty in the first quarter. The prescribers are now writing an average of 13.3 prescriptions each, which is also an increase from 12 prescriptions we reported in the first quarter.

The breadth and depth of prescriptions are growing, but there is still more to do. I also want to touch on refills and average doses of Vazio over time. Refills represented greater than 80% of prescriptions in quarter two, and the average dose of those refills is up 28% of the starting dose. We believe this reflects that physicians are getting comfortable treating patients at an optimal therapeutic dose, and as a result, each of our prescriptions becomes more valuable. Upon market availability, we had expected the frequency and intensity of dialysis patient care would have resulted in a higher than typical adherence rate for Basia.

As we have now been out in the field since January, we have observed adherence rates consistent with the industry at seventy percent to eighty percent. As we saw in our clinical trials, some patients, especially those on higher doses of ESAs, experience a hemoglobin drop on transitioning to three hundred mg starting dose of FAFSA. This is a departure from the experience with today’s standard of care, and anemia managers are conditioned to react as quickly as possible to a hemoglobin drop. In some cases anemia managers did not attempt to titrate or the protocol and patients were moved back to their prior ESAs. I am proud of how quickly the Akebia team and our partners reacted to improve adherence.

We quickly revamped and highlighted our messaging focusing on dosing and titration. We worked with existing customers to adjust protocols, and we educated dialysis organizations who were developing protocols to consider this in their protocol design. We believe our messages on improving adherence are getting out there and taking effect. Our focus ahead is to accelerate growth by increasing utilization of additional DOs by enabling nephrologists with access to right prescriptions. I would like to spend a minute providing more detail on our progress.

As we have discussed previously, we have commercial contracts in place with all key dialysis organizations and group purchasing organizations covering nearly one hundred percent of dialysis patients. That was step one. We are also supporting dialysis organizations in the creation and operationalization of vascular treatment protocols. I will refer to this as prescribing access. As John mentioned, we are prescribing access to over 40,000 dialysis patients in the first half of the year, resulting in most of our orders since launch coming from USRC.

Within the next month, we will have prescribing access to over 75,000 dialysis patients, an increase of over 85%, which includes DCI, IRC, and many independent and small dialysis organizations. Momentum around protocol development and implementation is picking up further in the third quarter as the DaVita physician will begin prescribing Vasquez as part of its operational patent at more than 100 dialysis clinics. With large complex systems, it always makes sense to do a test run to ensure that’s exactly what DaVita is doing. Activity around the pilot has already begun, as the need to notify the selected pilot sites, ordered product in July to support early pilot prescribing, and began training this down. The pilot is expected to conclude within approximately three months, which we believe will increase total prescribing access for Vasco to over 275,000 dialysis patients and enable the opportunity for a significant uptake in ordering in the fourth quarter of the year within DaVita.

One additional important note on patient access. In discussions with dialysis organizations with protocols in place and a review of claims data, we’ve confirmed that a significant number of Medicare Advantage plans are covering Bastion. As a reminder, patients covered by Medicare fee for service represent thirty five to forty percent of dialysis patients, and Medicare Advantage, another thirty five to forty percent of patients. Therefore, depending on the dialysis organization, the addressable patient population for could be doubled and potentially up to eighty percent of all dialysis patients having reimbursement for Vasture. Looking at the totality of our efforts, we’re happy with the progress on growing breadth and depth of prescribing, increasing patient access, and physician education.

We have increased demand 50 to five percent quarter over quarter. We expect to meaningfully increase prescribing access from approximately 40,000 patients to over 75,000 patients in the third quarter. And we are on track to access DaVita, which we expect to lead to prescribing access to over 275,000 dialysis patients in quarter four. We’re still in early stages of our goal to build a new standard of care, but we believe we are on track to make our goal a reality. Let me now turn it over to Derek.

Thanks, Nick. We’re happy to report another strong quarter driven by the top line performance of both Zafceo and Auryxia. I will now provide an overview of our results as compared to the second quarter of last year. Total revenues, which are comprised primarily of net product revenues and also include license, collaboration, and other revenues, were $62,500,000 this quarter as compared to $43,600,000 in Q2 of last year, representing an increase of $18,900,000 Of these amounts, net product revenues increased to $60,500,000 this quarter from $41,200,000 in Q2 of last year. This was driven by sales of Adafcio, which as mentioned, were $13,300,000 in the quarter, as well as by an increase in Auryxia sales, which were $47,200,000 this quarter as compared to $41,200,000 in Q2 of last year.

As a reminder, Auryxia lost IPX exclusivity in March, and there is an authorized generic for Auryxia on the market, though no generics have been approved by the FDA at this time. We are pleased with this quarter’s strong Auryxia results, though caution future Auryxia sales levels are challenging to predict due to the uncertainty around the timing of potential additional generic competition. Cost of goods sold decreased to $9,900,000 this quarter as compared to $17,000,000 in Q2 of last year. The key driver of this cost reduction is that we are no longer reporting a $9,000,000 quarterly non cash amortization charge related to the acquired development product rights for Arrhythmia, which is now fully emphasized. Also of note, Zafia sales in the quarter were derived from prelaunch inventory, which does not include the full cost of manufacturing, as a portion of those inventory related costs were previously expensed to R D prior to Zapsio’s FDA approval.

R and D expenses increased to $11,000,000 this quarter from $7,600,000 in Q2 of last year, driven by increased clinical trial activities related to VAPSSAY as well as our other programs. SG and A expenses decreased slightly to $26,600,000 this quarter from $26,900,000 in Q2 last year. Turning to the bottom line, we generated $247,000 of net income this quarter as compared to a net loss of $8,600,000 in Q2 of last year. This quarter’s net income was driven by the increase in revenues, which was partially offset by $5,400,000 in interest expense related to the D4 settlement royalty liability, as well as $7,000,000 in non cash expense related to the change in fair value of our warrant liability, which was driven by the increase in our stock price in Q2 over the prior quarter. We ended Q2 with $137,300,000 in cash and cash equivalents.

We believe our existing cash resources and the cash we expect to generate from product royalty supply and license revenues are sufficient to fund our current operating plans and profitability, including to pursue label expansion for Vaseo and advance our other pipeline programs. In closing, our Q2 financials reflect increased uptake of Vaseo, continued resilience of the Auryxia revenue stream, and careful attention to operating expenses, which resulted in our strengthened financial position. As John and Mick mentioned, the team is dedicating significant energy towards continuing to expand both the breadth and depth of Vapsteo utilization, And we look forward to discussing the results of these efforts on our next earnings call. With that, we welcome questions.

Conference Operator: Thank you. As a reminder, to ask a question, you will need to press 11 on your telephone and wait for your name to be announced. To withdraw your question, please press 11 again. Please stand by while we’ll apply the q and a roster. One moment for our first question.

Our first question will come from the line of Roger Song from Jefferies. Your line is open.

Roger Song, Analyst, Jefferies: Hey guys, good morning. Congrats for the quarter and thank you for taking our question. You give us a lot of the good numbers here. Just want to get a sense of some of the key metrics here. So first is the patient segment.

So in terms of the home use and the high ESA, what do you see this quarter and how this changed over last quarter? And then also, how do you forward looking when you have more larger DO coming online, including DaVita in 4Q, you see the patient segment will change. Similarly for the payer, you say the Medicare Advantage seems to be a significant amount of the patient and can you quantify compared to the fee for service? And I have a follow-up. Thank you.

John Butler, Chief Executive Officer, Akebia Therapeutics: Nick, I think that’s for you. Yeah, and so when I think about the patient segmentation, a great question, and you know, where USRC, who is a vast majority of our prescriptions, their protocol is broad. They’re allowing QD use for both in center patients and home patients, and we see usage that very much similar to the market segmentation between PE and home patients being about 12% of the total scripts and the remainder being for in center patients. The second part of that is how do we see that moving forward when we add on DaVita and others in the third and fourth quarter. When we look at all of the protocols that they’re putting in place, whether it be an IRC, DCI or DaVita, they’re all broad protocols that allow for both in center and home use.

When physicians think about patients top of mind that will benefit from Vasio, they go to two important segments first. They go to the home patient where it makes really, really good sense to use an oral therapy for those patients to avoid injections as well as consistent visits to the dialysis unit. And they also think about higher dose ESA patients who have a higher increased mortality in cardiovascular risk associated with those higher doses of ESAs. And so we expect to have continued broad uses. It may tip a little bit higher towards the PD section or the home section, but expect consistency moving forward given those broad protocols.

The second part of your question was on market access and Medicare Advantage. To date, we’re seeing about twenty percent of total prescriptions being filled in the Medicare Advantage segment of the population, where 80% is Medicare fee for service. But as we look going forward in our discussions with again IRC and ECI and DaVita, they have all indicated to have significant Medicare Advantage contracts already in place that will support Vacio through additional TDAPA coverage. And so that’s a great sign. That means that those populations are growing over our initial expectations of fee for service, and they’re growing at a faster rate.

We always thought they would add Medicare Advantage plans over time. It’s happened much earlier than we could have anticipated. I think even with US Renal, where they started with mostly a focus on fee for service, as that Medicare Advantage coverage has grown, they’ve kind of pushed those patient names out to dialysis centers as well, right? So we, this is the, there’s still growth to be had clearly within US renal. That’s correct.

You know, when I think about US renal, over eighty percent of US renal care physicians are brining, which is an important metric, especially when new coverage becomes available. When that new coverage becomes available, those physicians have the opportunity to treat Vafsio to a broader population that is in need of Vafsio that previously didn’t have coverage. So we’re looking forward to continued access increases and look forward to driving deeper penetration within all accounts.

Roger Song, Analyst, Jefferies: Excellent, thank you for the detail. Just a quick one. And then what’s the current average dose strength for your prescription? Because you see I know you see a higher dose level in the recent trend. Thank you.

John Butler, Chief Executive Officer, Akebia Therapeutics: Yeah, Nick, I think that’s you again. Yeah, and so as I referred to in my script, we’re seeing refill scripts being at about a 28 increase over the three hundred milligram starting dose, which is great. Know, we saw in our INNO2VATE trial, clinical trial that folks got to approximately an average of four twenty milligrams per script, and so that would be a 40% increase or at a 25% increase or 28% increase to date. So we see as people progress through their prescriptions from first prescription to second prescription, third prescription, those doses continue to titrate on. As you recall, our label has people titrating up at one hundred and fifty milligrams after four weeks, and every four weeks thereafter.

Therefore, it’s going to take the second or third refill to get them to the appropriate dose in some cases. And I think when you mentioned the adherence changes, what some providers are doing is actually allowing a titration at week two, which you saw in the MODIFY trial as well. So the one thing to be aware of, as you bring on new dialysis providers and they bring on more new patients, so we see this step up in patients, you may actually see a bit of a step down in dose because you have more patients at that starting dose. That’s exactly what we would hope to see, but as they stay on the drug, they’ll titrate to that average dose. And that’s obviously, as you can see, an important component of that growth in the quarter.

Roger Song, Analyst, Jefferies: Got it. Makes sense. Congrats again.

John Butler, Chief Executive Officer, Akebia Therapeutics: Thanks, Roger.

Conference Operator: Thank you. One moment for our next question. Our next question comes from the line of Julien Harrison from BTIG. Your line is open.

Julien Harrison, Analyst, BTIG: Hi, good morning. Congrats on the quarter and thank you for taking my questions. On the operationalized protocol you’re expecting from DaVita, is that expected to be implemented in earlier or late fourth quarter? Are you able to provide any granularity there? And when we start to think about the other large dialysis organization of comparable size to DaVita, should we also expect that corresponding protocol to be preceded by a pilot study as well?

John Butler, Chief Executive Officer, Akebia Therapeutics: Yeah, great question, Julian. Thanks for it. So the DaVita operational pilot is they are preparing for it now. They ordered the product, they’re training at the sites. And we expect in the next couple of weeks, think it’s the eighteenth of the month is when they expect to go live with it.

So, and then that pilot will last three months. So, up to three months, obviously, it could go sooner. But I think the expectation should be around the November is when they basically open that up to the entire the V2 network. So, you know, and as you mentioned, the other large providers, Fresenius, of course, and we continue to talk to Fresenius, present them clinical data, etcetera. We have not been able to progress yet.

I think as the data comes on and all these other providers come on, it becomes more and more difficult for them to keep access from their physicians and patients for this innovative product. My expectation, and correct me if I’m wrong, is they would probably do

Conference Operator: a

John Butler, Chief Executive Officer, Akebia Therapeutics: similar kind of operational pilot before they gate broad access.

Julien Harrison, Analyst, BTIG: Excellent. That’s very helpful. And then a follow-up, if I may. On non dialysis dependent CKD, it sounds like you’re very close to finalizing the Phase III trial design for VALOR. Are you able to give us an approximate sense for how soon this label expansion opportunity could come online for VAPSCO?

What does the timeline look like after that study starts around year end?

John Butler, Chief Executive Officer, Akebia Therapeutics: So the timeline is going to be driven significantly by how quickly we can enroll this study. Right? I mean, it’s an outcome study. We still expect, again, all of these details are somewhat to be determined, but the numbers we’ve been giving in the past, about a 1,500 patient trial, now with an active comparator versus Vastio or vadadustat, and doing it strictly in The US with US patients. So we can do that pooling of VALOR with The US PROTECT data to enhance the comfort that there isn’t an increased MACE risk, which of course we didn’t see in US patients with PROTECT.

It’s really all about how quickly can enroll and you know, giving a sense of that before we know what the final protocol looks like. I mean, this is one of the activities that we’re doing to prepare is working on feasibility, you know, how many sites, how many patients per site, and that will help us to better inform you. But I don’t want to get ahead of that data yet. But obviously, our goal would be to enroll as quickly as possible.

Julien Harrison, Analyst, BTIG: Excellent. That makes a lot of sense. Thank you, and congrats again.

John Butler, Chief Executive Officer, Akebia Therapeutics: Thanks so much, Julian.

Conference Operator: Thank you. One moment for our next question. Our next question will come from the line of Mazi Ali Mohamed from Leerink Partners. Your line is open.

Mazi Ali Mohamed, Analyst, Leerink Partners: Thanks for taking our question. This is Mazi on for Ruan Ruiz. So Auryxia revenues actually grew year from year. So I guess one question is, with the only one authorized generic currently in the market, what’s your outlook for competitive dynamics over the remainder of 2025? And I guess, how are you thinking about positioning for additional generic entrants in the future?

John Butler, Chief Executive Officer, Akebia Therapeutics: Izzy, thanks for the question. Nick, maybe you can talk about the market dynamics and why we’re seeing that growth. Yeah, and the market dynamics, think it’s great news for Auryxia. It’s really built on the back of Auryxia’s a ten year old product, and physicians are very comfortable with the clinical profile and the benefits of Auryxia as we’ve been kind of working with physicians for the last ten years. When we think about Auryxia pre bundle, the market of the access for Auryxia was actually extremely limited in prior years.

Physicians often had to do a prior auth, in some cases they had to do a medical exception, and they didn’t want to really do the work consistently for their patients. Now that the bundle has been implemented, access for IRTCE is actually at one of its greatest points in its history. And so physicians who are very comfortable using the product, understand its benefits in patients are taking the opportunity with that increased access to put more patients on Euryxia, which is great news for Euryxia. And so when we think about that trend continuing, maybe for the AG pieces, I’ll pass it over to Eric or back to John to go into that piece. Well, mean, I think, you said, we have one AG on the market.

We know exactly how much product we’re supplying to the ATRIS, and how long that agreement really only goes through this year. So we really need to see what happens with FDA. We’ve always said to be very careful about how we think about the long term with Auryxia, but ultimately we believe that a product will be approved. We’ve been saying for years that the slope of that curve post generic availability isn’t necessarily that patent cliff that you always see. If you use the Valimer as an example, it years before the generics took the lion’s share of the market because of the volume that you have to manufacture here.

But we look at it in a very conservative way. Maybe I’ll pass that to Eric to talk a little more. Yeah, no, I totally agree with John. You know, from an internal perspective, you know, due to the reasons you alluded to in script as well as my comments, you know, new generic competition, you know, could come up at any time. So we budget conservatively, you know, the longer we go without that incremental generic competition is really just upside to our internal.

Yeah, and when we talk about our kind of the cash runway, etcetera, being able to finance our pipeline, it’s using a very conservative view of where Auryxia lands over time. So we’re four months post when we had originally planned to have generics available. So we are pleased every day to continue to be able to deliver the product to the patient.

https://www.investing.com/news/transcripts/earnings-call-transcript-akebia-ther-q2-2025-earnings-miss-stock-drops-93CH-4177556

Phathom VOQUEZNA growth drives revenue beat

 Phathom Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:PHAT) presented its second quarter 2025 earnings on August 7, showcasing strong prescription growth for its flagship product VOQUEZNA and better-than-expected financial results. The company’s stock responded positively, rising 11.41% on earnings day, with an additional 4.61% gain in pre-market trading.

The biopharmaceutical company, focused on gastrointestinal diseases, reported Q2 2025 revenue of $39.5 million, exceeding analyst expectations of $36.38 million. This performance reflects Phathom’s growing market penetration in the gastroenterology space and successful commercialization of VOQUEZNA.

Quarterly Performance Highlights

VOQUEZNA prescriptions showed impressive growth, reaching approximately 173,000 in Q2 2025, representing a 36% increase from Q1 2025. The total prescriptions since launch exceeded 580,000 as of July 25, 2025, up significantly from 390,000 in April 2025.

As shown in the following chart of quarterly prescription growth:

The company has also successfully expanded its prescriber base, with cumulative writers growing to over 29,300 by mid-July 2025, a 24% increase from the previous quarter. This growth spans both gastroenterologists (GI) and primary care physicians (PCPs), though GIs remain the primary focus.

The following chart illustrates this steady growth in prescribers:

Strategic Initiatives

Phathom outlined a strategic realignment for Q3 2025, focusing more intensively on high-value targets. The company plans to target approximately 37,000 healthcare professionals, with particular emphasis on gastroenterologists, who currently account for 70% of VOQUEZNA prescription volume.

This strategic focus is illustrated in the following breakdown:


CEO Steven Basta emphasized the company’s path to profitability during the earnings call, stating, "We believe we have a clear path to profitability in 2026." He highlighted VOQUEZNA’s "rapid, potent, and durable acid suppression profile" as providing a meaningful treatment option for patients with persistent GERD symptoms despite current treatments.

The company positions VOQUEZNA as a differentiated product in the acid suppression market:

Detailed Financial Analysis

Phathom reported Q2 2025 revenue of $39.5 million, a substantial increase from $28.5 million in Q1 2025 and a dramatic improvement from $7.3 million in Q2 2024. The company maintained a strong cash position of $149.6 million as of June 30, 2025, which management believes is sufficient to reach profitability in 2026.

Operating expenses remain high but are projected to decrease in the second half of 2025. The company provided guidance for non-GAAP operating expenses to be below $60 million in Q3 2025 and below $55 million in Q4 2025, indicating a disciplined approach to cost management as revenue continues to grow.

The following chart provides a comprehensive view of key financial measures:

Forward-Looking Statements

Phathom provided financial guidance for the full year 2025, projecting net revenues between $165 million and $175 million. This outlook exceeds analyst consensus and reflects management’s confidence in continued prescription growth for VOQUEZNA.

The financial guidance is summarized in the following slide:

The company’s focus on operational efficiency is evident in its projected reduction of non-GAAP operating expenses for the remainder of 2025. This cost discipline, combined with growing revenues, supports management’s expectation of reaching profitability in 2026.

Phathom faces several challenges, including intense competition in the gastroenterology sector, potential regulatory hurdles for new indications, and macroeconomic pressures that could impact healthcare spending. However, the company’s strong Q2 performance and strategic focus on the gastroenterology market position it well for continued growth.

https://www.investing.com/news/company-news/phathom-pharmaceuticals-q2-2025-slides-voquezna-growth-drives-revenue-beat-93CH-4177765

Ligand Reports Second Quarter 2025 Financial Results and Raises Guidance



Ligand Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: LGND) reported strong Q2 2025 financial results and raised its full-year guidance. Total revenue reached $47.6 million, up 15% year-over-year, driven by a 57% increase in royalty revenue to $36.4 million. The company raised its 2025 guidance, now expecting total revenue of $200-225 million and adjusted EPS of $6.70-7.00.

Key highlights include the completion of the Pelthos Therapeutics merger, a $40 million strategic investment in Orchestra BioMed, and the commercial launch of Zelsuvmi. The company maintains a strong financial position with $245 million in cash and investments, including $26.5 million in Viking Therapeutics stock.

Collegium Reports Second Quarter 2025 Financial Results; Raises 2025 Outlook

 – Generated Record Quarterly Net Revenue of $188.0 Million, Up 29% Year-over-Year –

– Generated Record Quarterly Jornay PM® Net Revenue of $32.6 Million and Grew Prescriptions by 23% Year-over-Year –

– Generated Net Revenue of $155.4 Million from the Pain Portfolio, Up 7% Year-over-Year with All Three Core Products Recording Revenue Growth in the Quarter –

– Raised Full-Year 2025 Net Revenue Guidance to be in the Range of $745 to $760 Million and Adjusted EBITDA Guidance in the Range of $440 to $455 Million 

– Ended Q2’25 with Cash, Cash Equivalents and Marketable Securities of $222.2 Million –

– Board of Directors Authorized $150 Million Share Repurchase Program –

– Conference Call Scheduled for Today at 8:00 a.m. ET –

The Company will host a conference call and live audio webcast on Thursday, August 7, 2025, at 8:00 a.m. ET. To access the conference call, please dial (877) 407-8037 (U.S.) or (201) 689-8037 (International) and reference the “Collegium Pharmaceutical Second Quarter 2025 Earnings Call.” An audio webcast will be accessible from the Investors section of the Company’s website: www.collegiumpharma.com. The webcast will be available for replay on the Company’s website approximately two hours after the event.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/collegium-reports-second-quarter-2025-113000873.html

Hutchmed reports $455 million net income amid partial divestment

 Hutchmed (China) Limited (Nasdaq/AIM:HCM; HKEX:13) reported Thursday a significant boost in net income to $455 million for the first half of 2025, primarily driven by a $416.3 million gain from the partial divestment of a non-core joint venture.

The biopharmaceutical company’s total revenue decreased 9% to $277.7 million compared to $305.7 million in the same period last year, with oncology/immunology consolidated revenue down 15% to $143.5 million.

A key development was the China approval of ORPATHYS (savolitinib) for its third lung cancer indication on June 30, targeting EGFR-mutant non-small cell lung cancer patients with MET amplification after progression on EGFR inhibitor treatment. The approval triggered an $11 million milestone payment from AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN).

While Takeda’s in-market sales of FRUZAQLA (fruquintinib) outside China grew 25% to $162.8 million as its geographical coverage expanded to more than 30 countries, China sales of ELUNATE (fruquintinib) fell 29% to $43 million due to competitive pressures.

The company’s cash position strengthened significantly to $1.36 billion as of June 30, 2025, compared to $836.1 million at the end of 2024, bolstered by the $608.5 million in proceeds from divesting a 45% equity stake in Shanghai Pharmaceuticals Limited while retaining a 5% interest.

Hutchmed also announced progress with its new Antibody-Targeted Therapy Conjugates platform, with plans to initiate clinical development of its first drug candidate by late 2025.

The company updated its full-year 2025 guidance for oncology/immunology consolidated revenue to $270-350 million, citing the phasing of milestone income from partners to 2026 and beyond.

https://www.investing.com/news/company-news/hutchmed-reports-455-million-net-income-amid-partial-divestment-93CH-4176312

Avadel Second Quarter 2025 Financial Results, Raises 2025 Revenue Guidance



Avadel Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AVDL) reported strong Q2 2025 financial results, with LUMRYZ™ generating $68.1 million in net revenue, marking a 64% increase year-over-year. The company achieved its first quarterly net income of $9.7 million ($0.10 per share) since LUMRYZ's 2023 launch.

Key highlights include 3,100 patients on LUMRYZ as of June 30, 2025 (63% YoY increase), and raised 2025 revenue guidance to $265-275 million. The company received FDA Orphan Drug Designation for LUMRYZ in Idiopathic Hypersomnia (IH) and expects to complete enrollment in the Phase 3 REVITALYZ™ study by end of 2025.

The company's cash position strengthened to $81.5 million, with positive cash flow and a $15.0 million increase from Q1 2025.

CorMedix expands infectious disease portfolio with $300M acquisition of Melinta

 New Jersey biopharma CorMedix entered its commercial phase in 2023 with a long-awaited approval of DefenCath, a combination treatment that reduces the risk of catheter-related bloodstream infections (CRBSIs) for those with kidney disease.

Two years later, CorMedix is expanding its portfolio of infectious disease products for hospitalized patients with the acquisition of another New Jersey-based commercial-stage company, Melinta Therapeutics, for $300 million.

The 25-year-old private firm brings seven marketed products, including six for infectious diseases, led by its top seller Rezzayo, which treats potentially fatal yeast infections in the bloodstream. The antifungal was also approved in 2023.

“This deal is transformational for CorMedix, creating a fully diversified specialty pharmaceutical company with a broad portfolio of commercial and pipeline products concentrated in the acute care and anti-infectives area,” CEO Joe Todisco said in a Thursday conference call.

Todisco added that the companies’ operational infrastructures are “highly synergistic,” which CorMedix estimates will lead to between $35 million and $45 million in annual savings.

CorMedix projects Melinta products will generate between $125 million and $135 million in revenue this year. The company also expects future growth from Rezzayo with an anticipated expansion as a prophylaxis of invasive fungal diseases in patients undergoing blood and marrow transplants.

“We estimate that, if approved, peak annual sales potential in this indication could exceed $200 million,” Todisco said.

The companies expect to close the transaction as early as Sept. 1.

“Over the past five years, we have built a robust commercial infrastructure with a high-performing team, deep expertise, and relationships within the hospital and acute care ecosystem, while achieving significant revenue growth and sustained profitability,” Melinta CEO Christine Ann Miller said in a release. “CorMedix recognizes not just our innovative therapies, but the exceptional capabilities of our organization.”

As for DefenCath, the company is projecting sales of between $180 million and $200 million this year, thanks largely to a deal with a Large Dialysis Organization (LDO), which CorMedix announced two weeks ago. With the sales boost combined with the acquisition, CorMedix is projecting 2025 revenue between $305 million and $335 million.

CorMedix also has expansion plans for DefenCath as a treatment to reduce central-line bloodstream infections (CLABSIs) for those receiving total parental nutrition through a central venous catheter. A phase 3 study is underway with plans to submit for approval in late 2026 or early 2027.

https://www.fiercepharma.com/pharma/cormedix-expands-its-portfolio-300m-acquisition-melinta