Biogen (NASDAQ:BIIB) reported third-quarter 2026 revenue growth of 11% year over year, supported by its acquisition of Apellis and continued expansion of its growth-product portfolio. Management said the company remains on track to return to top-line growth in 2026 and raised the lower end of its full-year non-GAAP diluted earnings-per-share guidance.
Total revenue reached $2.8 billion in the quarter, while core pharmaceutical revenue rose 18% year over year to $2 billion, according to Chief Financial Officer Robin Kramer. The company’s growth portfolio generated approximately $1.3 billion in revenue, up 49% from a year earlier, and represented roughly 63% of core pharmaceutical revenue.
Chief Executive Officer Chris Viehbacher said Biogen’s growth portfolio generated $1.26 billion in revenue, an increase of 50% year over year. He said the company’s legacy multiple sclerosis portfolio has remained resilient, while newer products are increasingly driving the business.
Apellis Products Add to Growth Portfolio
The first full quarter including SYFOVRE and EMPAVELI, acquired through Biogen’s May purchase of Apellis, contributed $243 million in revenue. Viehbacher said the products were growing 37% year over year and were already on a $1 billion annualized revenue run rate.
SYFOVRE revenue was $191 million, up 27% year over year, as commercial injection volume increased 18%. Kramer said the results included an approximately $11 million inventory build expected to reverse in the fourth quarter, while a one-time price benefit associated with the launch of a co-pack is also expected to normalize.
EMPAVELI generated $52 million in revenue, up 11% sequentially, driven by demand in the nephrology indications C3G and primary IC-MPGN. Biogen is hiring a dedicated sales force to increase penetration in paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria, or PNH, where management described competition as high.
The company now expects the Apellis transaction to be roughly neutral on an operating basis in 2026, with most remaining dilution coming from financing costs. Biogen continues to target at least $250 million in annualized run-rate synergies by the end of 2027 and expects the deal to be accretive to non-GAAP diluted EPS in 2027.
Product Performance Includes SPINRAZA Conversion Tailwind
SPINRAZA revenue rose 23% year over year to $461 million, aided by rapid conversion of patients to the high-dose regimen. Kramer said the quarter benefited from one-time transition doses, and that revenue is expected to be up by approximately a mid-single-digit percentage in the fourth quarter compared with the fourth quarter of 2025 as dosing patterns normalize.
Alisha Alaimo, Biogen’s president of North America, said 70% of U.S. patients receiving the 12-milligram SPINRAZA regimen had submitted a form to transition to high dose by the end of the third quarter, while 50% had received high-dose treatment. She said the conversion progress has exceeded expectations but noted that fewer patients will generate one-time transition-dose revenue next year.
- LEQEMBI in-market revenue increased 67% year over year to $202 million.
- SKYCLARYS revenue rose 34% to $178 million, including an approximately $12 million inventory build expected to be drawn down in the fourth quarter.
- TYSABRI revenue increased 1% to $437 million.
- VUMERITY revenue declined 11% to $192 million amid tighter Part D formulary management.
Biogen said uptake of LEQEMBI IQLIK, its subcutaneous option, is in the early stages. Alaimo said at least 50% of covered lives are expected to have coverage for both initiation and maintenance administration starting in 2027. She added that IQLIK’s launch pace was ahead of the earlier LEQEMBI intravenous launch and KISUNLA, while acknowledging that adoption remains early.
Pipeline Readouts Approach
Biogen expects a series of registrational data readouts over the next several years. Priya Singhal, the company’s head of development, said results from two Phase III studies of litifilimab in systemic lupus erythematosus, or SLE, are planned for disclosure in the first half of December. The company also expects data from litifilimab in cutaneous lupus erythematosus, felzartamab in antibody-mediated rejection, and zorevunersen in Dravet syndrome during the third quarter of next year.
Management emphasized that lupus remains a heterogeneous disease and said it had incorporated strategies including steroid tapering and controls on background standard-of-care medications in the litifilimab program. Singhal said the company would assess the data before determining whether and how trial results could be pooled.
For felzartamab in antibody-mediated rejection, Alaimo said Biogen estimates there are approximately 11,000 patients, although not all would be candidates for treatment. She said the company has hired a medical team that has visited 100 transplant centers to prepare for potential protocol adoption, which can take time after approval. Biogen also views microvascular inflammation as incremental to the antibody-mediated rejection opportunity and estimates it could add about 30% to the patient population.
Singhal also said Biogen plans to update the primary endpoint of its PREVAIL trial in IgA nephropathy to estimated glomerular filtration rate, or eGFR, from proteinuria-related measures. She said the change reflects evolving evidence and regulatory expectations around directly assessing kidney function.
Guidance and Capital Allocation
Biogen raised the lower end of its full-year 2026 non-GAAP diluted EPS outlook, now forecasting $12.20 to $13 per share. The company generated $600 million in free cash flow during the quarter and ended the period with $1.3 billion in cash and $6.4 billion in net debt. It repaid $400 million of term loans related to the Apellis acquisition during the quarter and expects to repay the remaining $1.4 billion by the end of 2027.
Viehbacher said Biogen intends to continue investing in commercial launches and research while balancing those investments against profitability. He said the company is prioritizing earlier-stage external opportunities, particularly from discovery through Phase Ib, while seeking to avoid overextending the organization as it expands into retinal disease, nephrology, immunology and epilepsy markets.
About Biogen (NASDAQ:BIIB)
Biogen Inc is a biotechnology company that discovers, develops and commercializes therapies for neurological and neurodegenerative diseases. Its areas of focus include multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer’s disease, spinal muscular atrophy, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and other serious medical conditions.
The company’s portfolio includes multiple sclerosis treatments such as Tecfidera, Vumerity, Tysabri, Plegridy and Avonex, as well as Spinraza for spinal muscular atrophy. Biogen also markets Leqembi, an Alzheimer’s disease treatment developed in collaboration with Eisai, and works with partners to advance additional therapies and biosimilars.
Biogen was founded in 1978 and is headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
