Beyond COVID, Regeneron Is Betting Big on Oncology

While the coronavirus is top of mind for many of us these days, Regeneron's (NASDAQ: REGN) REGEN-COV antibody treatment was just the fourth topic discussed on the company's most recent earnings call in February. Blockbusters Eyelea and Dupixent came first, as well as the company's self-described "strong and growing core brand," Libtayo.

Libtayo is a checkpoint inhibitor, a form of cancer immunotherapy that targets "immune checkpoints," allowing a signal to be sent that lets the immune system kill cancer cells. The market for these drugs has grown consistently over the decade since Bristol Myers Squibb's (NYSE: BMY) Yervoy was the first to be approved in 2011 -- Merck's (NYSE: MRK) Keytruda has grown to $14 billion in sales in less than seven years. Libtayo, which was launched in September 2018 for advanced cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (a type of skin cancer), recorded a 24% increase in year-over-year quarterly U.S. sales for the quarter ending Dec. 31, to $74 million, with a 53% increase in full-year U.S. sales to $271 million. While Libtayo sales outside the U.S. were up as well, all of those proceeds go to Sanofi (NASDAQ: SNY) as per the two companies' agreement. Libtayo's accelerating growth means it is poised to become a big earner for Regeneron.

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Source Fool.com