On April 29, 2026 Biogen Inc. (Nasdaq: BIIB) reported first quarter 2026 financial results. Commenting on the quarter, President and Chief Executive Officer Christopher A. Viehbacher said:
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"We significantly advanced our transformation into the New Biogen through strong commercial and pipeline execution and the announcement of our intent to acquire Apellis. We believe the planned acquisition of Apellis will bolster our revenue and earnings growth, adding two differentiated commercial medicines and deepening the foundation for felzartamab, our key Phase 3 asset in kidney disease. This acquisition and the acquired rights to felzartamab in China come while we also expanded sales of our growth products, demonstrated continued resilience in our MS portfolio and reported important positive new data that reinforce our confidence in the late‑stage pipeline."
Financial Highlights
Q1 ’26 Q1 ’25 △
r (CC*)
Total Revenue (in millions) $2,478 $2,431 2% (2)%
GAAP diluted EPS $2.15 $1.64 31% N/A
Non-GAAP diluted EPS $3.57 $3.02 18% N/A
Note: Percent changes represented as favorable/(unfavorable) versus the prior year period.
N/A = not applicable.
* Percentage changes in revenue growth at constant currency (CC) are presented excluding the impact of changes in foreign currency exchange rates and hedging gains or losses. Foreign currency revenue values are converted into U.S. Dollars using the exchange rates from the end of the previous calendar year.
A reconciliation of GAAP to Non-GAAP financial measures can be found in Table 4 at the end of this news release.
Revenue Summary
(in millions) Q1 ’26 Q1 ’25 △
r (CC*)
Multiple sclerosis (MS) product revenue(1)
$958 $953 —% (3)%
Rare disease revenue(2)
$557 $563 (1)% (5)%
Biosimilars revenue $182 $181 1% (7)%
Other product revenue(3)
$55 $29 88% 87%
Total product revenue $1,752 $1,727 1% (3)%
Revenue from anti-CD20 therapeutic programs $419 $378 11% 11%
Alzheimer’s collaboration revenue(4)
$60 $33 80% 80%
Contract manufacturing, royalty and other revenue $247 $293 (16)% (20)%
Total revenue $2,478 $2,431 2% (2)%
Note: Percent changes represented as favorable/(unfavorable) versus the prior year period. Numbers may not foot or recalculate due to rounding.
(1) Multiple sclerosis includes TECFIDERA, VUMERITY, AVONEX, PLEGRIDY and TYSABRI.
(2) Rare disease includes SPINRAZA, SKYCLARYS and QALSODY.
(3) Other includes ADUHELM, FUMADERM and ZURZUVAE.
(4) Includes Biogen’s 50% share of net revenue and cost of sales, including royalties, from the LEQEMBI Collaboration.
•Within MS product revenue TYSABRI benefitted from approximately $40 million from a favorable adjustment to discounts and allowances and inventory timing in the U.S. and $19 million of favorable inventory timing outside the U.S.
•Contract manufacturing, royalty and other revenue benefitted from the acceleration of manufacturing activity in the first quarter.
Expense Summary
(in millions) Q1 ’26 Q1 ’25 △
GAAP cost of sales*
$661 $629 (5)%
% of Total Revenue 27% 26%
Non-GAAP cost of sales*
$610 $580 (5)%
% of Total Revenue 25% 24%
GAAP R&D expense $539 $434 (24)%
Non-GAAP R&D expense $480 $427 (13)%
GAAP SG&A expense $607 $573 (6)%
Non-GAAP SG&A expense $600 $572 (5)%
GAAP and Non-GAAP acquired IPR&D, upfront and milestone expense $34 $201 NMF
Note: Percent changes represented as favorable/(unfavorable) versus the prior year period
IPR&D = in-process R&D; NMF = no meaningful figure.
* Excluding amortization and impairment of acquired intangible assets
•The increase in first quarter 2026 GAAP and Non-GAAP cost of sales as a percentage of total revenue was driven primarily by product mix.
•The increase in first quarter 2026 GAAP R&D expense was primarily driven by approximately $57 million of step-up amortization related to SKYCLARYS inventory as well as increased investment in late-stage programs including litifilimab and felzartamab. The increase in first quarter 2026 Non-GAAP R&D expense was primarily driven by increased investment in late-stage programs including litifilimab and felzartamab.
•The increase in first quarter 2026 GAAP and Non-GAAP SG&A was primarily driven by investments to support product launches.
•First quarter 2026 GAAP and Non-GAAP acquired IPR&D, upfront and milestone expense was $34 million.
Other Financial Highlights
•First quarter 2026 GAAP and Non-GAAP collaboration profit sharing was a net expense of approximately $74 million, which includes approximately $57 million related to Biogen’s collaboration with Samsung Bioepis, and approximately $17 million related to Biogen’s collaboration with Supernus Pharmaceuticals, Inc. for the commercialization of ZURZUVAE in the U.S.
•First quarter 2026 GAAP other expense was approximately $20 million driven by net interest expense partially offset by net unrealized gains on equity securities. First quarter 2026 Non-GAAP other expense was approximately $42 million primarily driven by net interest expense.
•First quarter 2026 GAAP and Non-GAAP effective tax rates were 15.4% and 15.3%, respectively. First quarter 2025 GAAP and Non-GAAP effective tax rates were 22.7% and 19.4%, respectively. The year over year decrease in the Non-GAAP effective tax rate was due to favorable impacts from a foreign tax settlement and vesting of certain share-based awards partly offset by the increase in U.S. taxation on foreign earnings in 2026 under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
Financial Position
•First quarter 2026 net cash flow from operations was approximately $646 million. Capital expenditures were approximately $51 million, and free cash flow, a Non-GAAP financial measure defined as net cash flow from operations less capital expenditures, was approximately $594 million.
•As of March 31, 2026, Biogen had cash and cash equivalents totaling approximately $4.7 billion and approximately $6.3 billion in total debt, resulting in net debt of approximately $1.5 billion.
•For the first quarter of 2026 the Company’s weighted average diluted shares were approximately 148 million.
Full Year 2026 Financial Guidance
Biogen is updating its guidance for full year 2026 to reflect an approximately $1.00 impact from acquired IPR&D charges resulting from ongoing business development activities to support Biogen’s growth strategy. This comprises approximately $0.20 recorded in the first quarter and approximately $0.80 expected in the second quarter. This updated guidance excludes the anticipated Apellis transaction. Full year 2026 Non-GAAP diluted EPS range is expected as follows:
Full Year 2026 Non-GAAP Diluted EPS
Prior Guidance (February 2026) $15.25 to $16.25
Approx. impact from acquired IPR&D charges recorded in Q1 and expected in Q2 2026*
(Excluding the Apellis transaction)
($1.00)
Updated Guidance $14.25 to $15.25
*Includes an expected approximately $0.55 Non-GAAP diluted EPS impact from the deal with TJ Biopharma for felzartamab Greater China region rights and an additional $0.25 Non-GAAP diluted EPS impact from a milestone expected to occur in the second quarter of 2026.
Total revenue is expected to decline by a mid-single digit percentage for 2026 as compared to 2025 as further declines in multiple sclerosis product revenue, excluding VUMERITY, are expected to be partially offset by increases in revenue from growth products.
For full year 2026 as compared to full year 2025, Biogen expects the gross margin percentage, and combined Non-GAAP R&D expense and Non-GAAP SG&A expense to be roughly consistent year-over-year. Biogen expects full year 2026 Non-GAAP effective tax rate to be between approximately 17% and 18%.
This guidance also assumes that foreign exchange rates as of April 24, 2026, will remain in effect for the remainder of the year, net of hedging activities.
Other than the acquired IPR&D impact expressly stated above, this financial guidance does not include any other potential future acquired IPR&D charges, impact from potential acquisitions or business development transactions or pending and future litigation or any impact of potential healthcare reform, as all are difficult to predict. Other important financial considerations will be provided on the conference call and webcast.
Biogen may incur charges, realize gains or losses, or experience other events or circumstances in 2026 that could cause any of these assumptions and expectations to change and/or actual results to vary from this financial guidance.
Biogen does not provide guidance for GAAP reported financial measures (other than revenue) or a reconciliation of forward-looking Non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP reported financial measures because the Company is unable without unreasonable effort to predict with reasonable certainty the financial impact of items such as the transaction, integration, and certain other costs related to acquisitions or large business development transactions; unusual gains and losses; potential future asset impairments; gains and losses from equity security investments; and the ultimate outcome of pending or future litigation. These items are uncertain, depend on various factors, and could have a material impact on GAAP reported results for the guidance period. For the same reasons, the Company is unable to address the significance of the unavailable information, which could be material to future results.
Conference Call and Webcast
The Company’s earnings conference call for the first quarter will be broadcast via the internet at 8:00 a.m. ET on April 29, 2026 and will be accessible through the Investors section of Biogen’s website, www.biogen.com. Supplemental information in the form of a slide presentation is also accessible at the same location on the internet and will be subsequently available on the website for at least 90 days.
(Press release, Biogen, APR 29, 2026, View Source [SID1234664903])