Xanax maker Viatris beats quarterly estimates on demand for new generic drugs

(Reuters) – Drugmaker Viatris beat Wall Street estimates for third-quarter profit and revenue on Thursday, helped by strong demand for its new generic asthma and ADHD drugs, among others, sending its shares up 2.5% premarket.

Sales at Viatris' generic business have been boosted by new products such as Breyna, a cheaper version of AstraZeneca's asthma inhaler Symbicort, and lisdexamfetamine, a generic of Takeda's ADHD drug Vyvanse.

The Canonsburg, Pennsylvania-based company reaffirmed its annual sales forecast of $500 million to $600 million for new products, which generated revenue of $133 million during the third quarter.

Viatris' portfolio includes key branded drugs such as erectile dysfunction drug Viagra, anti-anxiety medication Xanax, epilepsy treatment Lyrica, and arthritis treatment Celebrex.

When adjusted for divestitures, quarterly revenue at the company's branded drugs unit rose 2% to $2.36 billion from a year ago, while its generic business grew 4% to $1.38 billion.

Viatris closed its women's health and active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) business divestiture in June. It closed the over-the-counter (OTC) divestiture in July.

The drugmaker reported revenue of $3.74 billion for the third quarter, beating analysts' average estimate of $3.71 billion, according to data compiled by LSEG.

Its adjusted quarterly profit of 75 cents per share also came in above estimates of 68 cents.

Viatris, however, cut its 2024 profit forecast to between $2.56 and $2.71 per share from a prior view of $2.58 to $2.73.

The company, formed by the merger of Mylan and Pfizer's Upjohn business in 2020, said it anticipates added research and development costs due to its licensing agreement for Lexicon's diabetes drug sotagliflozin.

(Reporting by Puyaan Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Shreya Biswas)