Jazz Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:JAZZ) reported record third-quarter revenue of $1.24 billion, up 10% from a year earlier, and raised its full-year 2026 revenue outlook as growth in its sleep and oncology businesses offset product-specific pressures and continued investment in its pipeline.
Chief Executive Officer Renee Gala said the quarter reflected progress toward building a “more innovative and diversified” company, highlighting the FDA approval and launch of Ziihera in first-line HER2-positive metastatic gastroesophageal adenocarcinoma, or GEA, as a major milestone. The company also completed its acquisition of Actio Biosciences during the quarter, adding rare epilepsy candidate ABS-1230 to its development pipeline.
Revenue guidance raised as Xywav and oncology grow
Chief Financial Officer Phil Johnson said Jazz raised and narrowed its 2026 total revenue guidance to $4.775 billion to $4.85 billion. At the midpoint, the outlook would represent nearly 13% growth over 2025. The revised low end is above the high end of the company’s prior guidance range.
More than half of the guidance increase came from the rare sleep franchise, Johnson said, supported by Xywav performance and limited disruption from high-sodium oxybate generics. He added that continued strength across U.S. and European operations, including Epidiolex and oncology products, reduced potential downside scenarios.
Jazz now expects rare sleep revenue of $2.125 billion to $2.175 billion for 2026, led by Xywav growth in the low-double-digit to low-teens percentage range. Xywav net product sales rose 12% to $483 million in the third quarter, as the company added approximately 425 net patients across narcolepsy and idiopathic hypersomnia.
Chief Commercial Officer Sam Pearce said Xywav had 17,550 active patients at the end of the third quarter. The company expects the product to remain a foundational treatment across narcolepsy type 1, narcolepsy type 2 and idiopathic hypersomnia, although Pearce said orexin-2 receptor agonists could extend the time before some new narcolepsy type 1 patients start therapy.
Jazz also pointed to Xywav’s low-sodium profile, its JazzCares services and patient-support programs as factors supporting the product’s market position. Pearce said the company does not expect multisource high-sodium generics to have additional material impact in the foreseeable future.
Ziihera launch gains traction in community settings
Ziihera generated $21 million in third-quarter net product sales following its late-August approval in first-line HER2-positive metastatic GEA. Jazz said the launch has been driven by newly presenting patients rather than a transition of expanded-access or clinical-trial patients to commercial treatment.
The company is targeting an estimated 3,000 to 4,000 U.S. patients annually who are eligible for Ziihera in the approved indication. Pearce said community oncology practices will account for the majority of use in GEA, distinguishing the market from Ziihera’s use in biliary tract cancer.
In September, Jazz recorded a threefold increase in new accounts ordering Ziihera compared with August, with more than 80% of new ordering accounts coming from community practices. Average vial demand per selling day rose about 40% month over month, according to Pearce.
Jazz said Ziihera has had smooth market access due in part to its permanent J-code and preferred National Comprehensive Cancer Network guideline status. The company has submitted mature survival data to NCCN for consideration of a category 1 update.
At the ESMO Congress, Jazz presented final results from the HERIZON-GEA-01 trial. Rob Iannone, global head of research and development and chief medical officer, said Ziihera plus chemotherapy reduced the risk of death by 24% versus trastuzumab plus chemotherapy. The triplet regimen of Ziihera, tislelizumab and chemotherapy produced a median overall survival of 27 months, with nearly 40% of patients alive at three years compared with 23% in the trastuzumab-plus-chemotherapy group.
Jazz maintained its estimate of $3 billion to $5 billion in peak sales potential for Ziihera across HER2-expressing cancers. Johnson said the late-year GEA launch was not a major contributor to the 2026 guidance increase but is expected to become more meaningful in 2027.
Oncology portfolio expands while Zepzelca faces future competition
Oncology revenue grew 35% year over year. Johnson noted, however, that U.S. oncology revenue growth faced a nine-percentage-point headwind because the prior-year quarter had 14 shipping weeks, compared with 13 weeks in the current quarter.
Modeyso has generated about $200 million in net sales since its third-quarter 2025 launch, with approximately 725 patients treated as of the third quarter of 2026. The quarter included a $14 million partner inventory build following Modeyso’s approval in Japan.
Pearce said Jazz expects a more measured near-term revenue pace for Modeyso as it expands from academic centers into community oncology networks and works to increase biomarker testing. The company expects top-line results from the phase III ACTION trial in the first half of 2027 and reiterated confidence in a $500 million U.S. peak-sales expectation.
Zepzelca sales increased 32% to $104 million, driven by uptake of the combination with atezolizumab in first-line maintenance small cell lung cancer. The FDA-aligned removal of Zepzelca’s second-line indication occurred at the end of the third quarter. Pearce said the first-line maintenance segment represents roughly 30% to 40% of Zepzelca revenue.
Jazz expects a future sales headwind in 2027 after a potential competing first-line maintenance launch. Pearce said Zepzelca remains an established option, particularly for community oncologists who value its administration profile and overall-survival data.
Actio acquisition and pipeline milestones
Jazz paid $820 million to acquire Actio Biosciences, adding ABS-1230, a small-molecule therapy designed to selectively inhibit the KCNT1 ion channel. The candidate is being evaluated in the phase Ib/IIa KYRON trial, which Jazz said is structured as a registrational study and could support a future new drug application.
ABS-1230 has received fast track, rare pediatric disease and orphan drug designations. Jazz plans to present initial patient efficacy data at a medical meeting during the fourth quarter.
The company also initiated a phase I trial of JZP269, an orexin-2 receptor agonist, in sleep-deprived healthy volunteers. Iannone said Jazz sees an opportunity to develop the treatment across a broader narcolepsy population, including narcolepsy type 2 and idiopathic hypersomnia.
For Epidiolex, third-quarter sales were $295 million. Jazz said year-over-year growth was affected by lower gross-to-net deductions in the prior-year period and a smaller inventory build this year. The FDA has accepted the company’s application for a cannabidiol oral capsule formulation, with a PDUFA date of April 16, 2027.
On the financial side, Jazz reported $1.3 billion in operating cash flow for the first nine months of 2026 and ended the quarter with $2.9 billion in cash and investments. Its reported non-GAAP loss per share of $3.88 reflected a $754 million acquired in-process research and development charge tied to the Actio acquisition; excluding that charge, non-GAAP earnings per share would have been $7.15, according to Johnson.
About Jazz Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:JAZZ)
Jazz Pharmaceuticals plc is a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing medicines for neurological, sleep-related and oncology disorders. The company serves patients and healthcare providers in the United States and international markets, with products marketed through its commercial operations and partnerships.
Jazz’s sleep portfolio includes Xyrem and Xywav, which are used to treat certain symptoms associated with narcolepsy. Following its acquisition of GW Pharmaceuticals, the company also added Epidiolex, a cannabidiol-based treatment for specific forms of treatment-resistant epilepsy.
