Takeda Reports Solid Second Quarter FY2019 Results and Raises Profit Guidance for the Full Year

On October 31, 2019 Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited (TOKYO:4502)(NYSE:TAK) (Press release, Takeda, OCT 31, 2019, View Source [SID1234550063]):

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Underlying Revenue declined -0.2% vs FY2018 H1 pro-forma revenue2

Takeda’s 14 global brands with reported revenue of 547.0 billion yen in aggregate posted a strong year-over-year underlying growth of +21%, driven by ENTYVIO growing +33.9%, ALBUMIN/FLEXBUMIN growing +16.9%, and NINLARO growing +32.7%, offset by the negative impact of intensified competition and generic erosion.
Underlying growth in key business areas for FY2019 H1: GI (+9%), Oncology (+11%), Neuroscience (+6%), and Plasma Derived Therapy (PDT) Immunology (+4%), offset by Rare Disease (-11%) due to decline as expected in Rare Hematology.
Within Rare Disease, Rare Hematology continues to be impacted by competition and price pressure, and growth in Hereditary Angioedema (HAE) was negatively affected by stocking in the prior year as well as generic entry for FIRAZYR.
Immunoglobulin returned to growth as expected in the 3 months of FY2019 Q2 at an underlying growth rate of +7.6% and +3% for H1, over the same period of last year.
Underlying Core Operating Profit Margin of 32.2% for FY2019 H1 with cost synergies and OPEX efficiencies driving margins

Reported Operating Profit declined -70.7% to 50.3 billion yen, largely impacted by non-cash purchase accounting expenses including unwinding of inventory step-up, increased amortization of intangibles, as well as one-time integration costs.
Core Operating Profit increased +155.5% to 541.6 billion yen primarily due to the acquisition of Shire, solid performance of 14 global growth brands and improved operating efficiency partially offset by the negative impact of intensified competition and generic erosion.
Underlying Core Operating Profit Margin for FY2019 H1 was 32.2% reflecting continued OPEX discipline and cost synergies.
Underlying Core EPS for H1 was 249 yen.
Investing in future growth by adding 23 plasma collection centers since the closing of the Shire acquisition, acquiring license for first-in-class celiac disease therapy (TAK-101) from COUR Pharmaceuticals, and continued investment in our R&D engine.
1

Please refer to note iii in Reported Results for H1 (April – June) FY2019 table for Core Operating Profit definition.

2

Growth versus FY2018 H1 pro-forma revenue (6-month April-September 2018 combined revenue of Legacy Takeda and Legacy Shire, excludes its oncology business and US GAAP results were conformed to IFRS, without material differences). Please see the appendix for more details.

Achieved Several Important Pipeline Milestones

Data presented at World Sleep Congress demonstrated early evidence of efficacy for TAK-925 in Narcolepsy Type 1.
ENTYVIO head-to-head study and TAK-620 (Maribavir) Ph-2 data published in The New England Journal of Medicine.
TRINTELLIX approved in Japan for the treatment of depression and depressed state.
Submitted a Marketing Authorization Application (MAA) in Japan for a subcutaneous formulation of ENTYVIO for patients with moderately to severely active ulcerative colitis.
8 potential best-in-class or first-in-class New Molecular Entities (NMEs) in pivotal studies.
Divesting non-core assets to accelerate deleveraging and focus the business

Paid down 584.5 billion yen of debt and de-levered from 4.7x at end of FY2018 to 3.9x Net debt / adjusted EBITDA as of September 2019. This does not include the sale of OTC and prescription pharmaceutical assets in certain Near East, Middle East and Africa countries to Acino for more than $200 million.
Negotiations ongoing for further potential divestments.
Christophe Weber, Chief Executive Officer, commented:

"We are pleased with our recent financial results, which reflect strong underlying performance across our 14 global brands and OPEX improvements that has allowed us to raise our guidance. I am particularly encouraged by the rapid de-leveraging year-to-date.
We are also satisfied with the progress of our integration efforts. Takeda employees are excited and engaged around our next phase of growth and our undeniable progress towards becoming one integrated company.
Our excitement around the future of Takeda is also derived from the strength and breadth of our pipeline. We look forward to providing some additional insight and commentary around our portfolio, pipeline, and growth strategy at our upcoming R&D Day in November."

Reported Results for FY2019 H1 (April – June)

(billion yen)

REPORTED

CORE

UNDERLYING i.

FY2019 H1

VS. PRIOR YEAR

FY2019 H1

VS. PRIOR YEAR

Revenue

1,660.2

+88.5%

1,660.2

+88.5%

-0.2% y-o-y ii.

(pro-forma)

Operating Profit

50.3

-70.7%

541.6 iii.

+155.5%

Margin

3.0%

-16.5pp

32.6%

+8.6pp

32.2%

Net Profit iv.

33.2

-73.8%

380.4

+130.3%

EPS (JPY)

21 yen

-140 yen

244 yen

+33 yen

249 yen

i.

Underlying Growth compares two periods (quarters or years) of financial results under a common basis and is used by management to assess the business. These financial results are calculated on a constant currency basis and excluding the impact of divestitures and other amounts that are unusual, non-recurring items or unrelated to our ongoing operations.

ii.

Growth versus FY2018 H1 pro-forma revenue. Pro-forma revenue is the 6-month April-September 2018 combined revenue of Legacy Takeda and Legacy Shire, US GAAP results conformed to IFRS, without material differences. The adjustments also include removal of impacts related to Shire’s oncology business which was divested in August 2018.

iii.

Core Operating Profit represents net profit adjusted to exclude income tax expenses, our share of profit or loss of investments accounted for using the equity method, finance expenses and income, other operating expenses and income, amortization and impairment losses on intangible assets associated with products and other items that management believes are unrelated to our core operations, such as purchase accounting effects and transaction related costs.

iv.

Attributable to the owners of the company.

FY2019 Management Guidance: Upgrading guidance to reflect positive business momentum

Previous Guidance
(July 31, 2019)

Revised Guidance
(October 31, 2019)

Underlying Revenue Growth i.

Flat to slightly increasing

Flat to slightly increasing

Underlying Core Operating Profit Margin

Mid-to-high-twenties %

High-twenties %

Underlying Core EPS

360 – 380 yen

370 – 390 yen

Annual Dividend per Share

180 yen

180 yen

i.
Constant Exchange Rate growth (applying FY2018 full year average foreign exchange rate of 111 JPY/USD) compared to baseline of JPY 3,300 billion (Rounded pro-forma April 2018-March 2019 combined revenue of Legacy Takeda and Legacy Shire, converted at April 2018-March 2019 average exchange rate of 111 JPY/USD; also adjusted to remove the revenue from divested assets such as Techpool, Multilab, and TACHOSIL from Legacy Takeda, and the oncology portfolio and XIIDRA from Legacy Shire) and conformed from US GAAP to IFRS, without material differences.

FY2019 Reported Forecast: Revenue decreasing due to FX impact, but profit increasing

For more details on Takeda’s FY2019 Q2 results and other financial information, please visit View Source

Takeda to Host R&D Day on November 14 in New York, Plasma-Derived Therapies Day on November 15 in Covington, GA, and R&D and Plasma-Derived Therapies Day on November 21 in Tokyo;

At each event, Takeda executives are expected to discuss, among other things, the Company’s near-term and sustained growth strategies and next-generation platforms. Each event will be accessible via a live webcast on the Investors section of the Company’s website: View Sourcequarterly-announcements/quarterly-announcements-2019/.
A replay of each webcast will be archived on the website along with the presentation slides associated with each event.

Presenting data at the cancer immunotherapy SITC conference

On October 30, 2019 MonTa Biosciences reported that is attending the cancer immunotherapy SITC (Free SITC Whitepaper) conference in Washington DC to present data on our lead candidate MBS8 (Press release, MonTa Biosciences, OCT 30, 2019, View Source [SID1234618628]).

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Athenex Announces European Commission Grants Orphan Designations for Paclitaxel and Encequidar for the Treatment of Soft Tissue Sarcoma

On October 30, 2019 Athenex, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATNX), a global biopharmaceutical company dedicated to the discovery, development and commercialization of novel therapies for the treatment of cancer and related conditions, reported that it has received Orphan Designations from the European Commission (EC) for paclitaxel and encequidar ("Oral Paclitaxel") for the treatment of soft tissue sarcoma, following a positive opinion from the European Medicines Agency (EMA) (Press release, Athenex, OCT 30, 2019, View Source [SID1234573893]).

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Dr. Rudolf Kwan, Chief Medical Officer of Athenex, commented, "We are very pleased to receive Orphan Designations from the European Commission, as this further recognizes the potential benefits of Oral Paclitaxel. Earlier this year, we shared encouraging early results from a clinical study in angiosarcoma, a form of soft tissue sarcoma, that showed rapid responses in a difficult to treat patient population. We will soon be extending this study to include sites in Europe."

The EC grants Orphan Designation status to support development of medicines for the treatment of diseases that affect fewer than 5 in 10,000 people in the European Union and provide a significant benefit to those affected by the condition. Orphan Designation may provide certain benefits, including protocol assistance, fee reductions, and a ten-year period of market exclusivity if the drug is approved.

The U.S. FDA has granted oral paclitaxel and encequidar an Orphan Drug Designation in the treatment of angiosarcoma.

The Orascovery platform was initially developed by Hanmi Pharmaceuticals and licensed exclusively to Athenex for all major worldwide territories except Korea, which is retained by Hanmi.

NexImmune Receives IND Clearance for Phase 1/2 trial in Acute Myeloid Leukemia / Myelodysplastic Syndrome

On October 20, 2019 NexImmune, a clinical stage immunotherapy company developing novel T cell therapies, reported that it received Investigational New Drug (IND) clearance for the company’s first cellular therapy product (Press release, NexImmune, OCT 30, 2019, View Source [SID1234554876]). NEXI-001 is being developed for the treatment of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) or myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) patients with relapsed disease after an allogeneic hematopoietic cellular transplant (allo-HCT). Scott Carmer, NexImmune’s President and CEO, commented "we are excited to initiate clinical trials with NEXI-001, and to provide these patients with a promising new treatment option. NEXI-001 is a product that is meaningfully differentiated from other cellular therapies in that it contains multiple populations of antigen specific endogenous T cells with enhanced anti-tumor properties. Because of this, we are confident NEXI-001 could address key limitations observed with other cellular immunotherapies; specifically, tumor escape through single target down-regulation and tumor relapse due to diminished T cell persistence."

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The Phase 1/2 trial of NEXI-001 will begin enrolling patients at clinical sites across the United States, including Memorial Sloan Kettering, MD Anderson, The City of Hope, The Dana Farber Cancer Institute, and AdventHealth. The trial is a multi-center, dose-escalating, open-label, single-arm study evaluating the safety, tolerability and initial efficacy of adoptively-transferred donor-derived T-cells as a treatment for AML or MDS patients with relapsed disease after allo-HCT. The trial will evaluate two increasing dose levels, with three patients enrolled in each dose escalation cohort. After the initial safety evaluation phase, up to 20 patients will be enrolled in the dose expansion phase. All patients will be followed for at least one year.

Miguel Perales, MD, Deputy Chief of Bone Marrow Transplant Services at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and the trial’s lead investigator, stated "for patients receiving T cell therapy after allo-HCT, the primary treatment goal is to separate the efficacy benefits of Graft-versus-Leukemia (GVL) from the toxicities associated with Graft-versus-Host Disease (GVHD). This requires the ability to deliver a cell therapy product that contains a significant proportion of leukemia antigen specific memory T cells, and few-to-no T cell subtypes with allo-reactive potential. We believe NEXI-001 represents a T cell product with potential to deliver against these key treatment goals. Our center is excited to participate in this clinical trial, and we are enthusiastic about the promise NEXI-001 represents for our post-transplant AML/MDS patients with relapsed disease."

Lee Greenberger, MD, Chief Scientific Officer at The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, commented further, "patients who relapse after allo-HCT are left with a dismal prognosis and limited treatment options, and are in need of new treatments that offer significant benefit. LLS is proud to partner with NexImmune on the development of products like NEXI-001 through our Therapy Acceleration Program (TAP). We believe this unique technology has the potential to meaningfully benefit patients who are in urgent need of novel approaches to treating this disease."

About AML / MDS relapse after Allogeneic Hematopoietic Cellular Transplant
Among patients with Acute Myelogenous Leukemia (AML) or Myelodysplastic Syndrome (MDS), allogeneic hematopoietic cellular transplantation (HCT) used as post-remission therapy for those with high-risk genetic profiles or as salvage therapy for those with disease refractory to chemotherapy offers the highest potential for long-term survival. However, relapse after allogenic HCT remains the major cause of treatment failure, is associated with an extremely poor prognosis, and represents a major therapeutic challenge. In this situation, no standard therapy is defined, but treatment options generally aim to reduce disease burden and to enforce a graft-versus-leukemia (GvL) effect. Commonly used treatment options for these patients are chemotherapy combined with cellular-based approaches, such as donor lymphocyte infusion (DLI)or second transplantation.

About NEXI-001
NEXI-001 is an endogenous cellular therapy and includes populations of primed antigen specific CD8+ cells directed at multiple leukemia relevant antigen targets. Generating T cells against multiple tumor targets minimizes the potential for tumor escape. In addition, NEXI-001 contains T cell subtypes that are predominantly memory phenotypes, with the majority being characterized as stem cell memory and central memory T cells. Importantly, each NEXI-001 product contains minimal populations of naïve T cells (average <5%). Minimizing the naïve T cell compartment reduces alloreactivity and Graft-versus-Host Disease (GvHD) in patients after an allo-HCT, while T cell products that contain high proportions of memory cells, particularly central memory and stem cell memory, have been associated with potent anti-tumor activity, long-term T cell persistence and durable anti-tumor response.

MacroGenics Announces Date of Third Quarter 2019 Financial Results Conference Call

On October 30, 2019 MacroGenics, Inc. (Nasdaq: MGNX), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering and developing innovative monoclonal antibody-based therapeutics for the treatment of cancer, reported that the Company will release its financial results for the third quarter of 2019 after the market closes on Wednesday, November 6, 2019 (Press release, MacroGenics, OCT 30, 2019, View Source [SID1234553168]). MacroGenics will host a conference call to discuss the financial results and recent corporate progress on Wednesday, November 6, 2019 at 4:30 p.m. ET. The conference call can be accessed by dialing (877) 303-6253 (domestic) or (973) 409-9610 (international) five minutes prior to the start of the call and providing the Conference ID 9298813.

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The listen-only webcast of the conference call can be accessed under "Events & Presentations" in the Investor Relations section of the Company’s website at View Source A recorded replay of the webcast will be available shortly after the conclusion of the call and archived on the Company’s website for 30 days following the call.