Robert Wessman
Analyst · Ash Verma from UBS
Thank you, Benedikt, and thanks to everyone for joining us here today. Please turn to the Slide #4 in your deck. We are now approaching the end of very eventful year, marked by increased pipeline development, successful product approvals across multiple markets and growing licensing and products revenues. Alvotech has come a long way in its 12-year history. We have invested approximately $2 billion to build a global pure-play biosimilar company with integrated R&D and manufacturing under one roof. We commercialize globally through a network of nearly 20 partners, reaching over 90 countries worldwide. After launching our first biosimilar in 2022 and second biosimilar in 2024, we entered the U.S. market last year. The 2024 global launches drove a 420% revenue growth in that year, and we are guiding approximately 20% growth for 2025. With exclusivity expiring on dozens of originator biologics each year and the regulators waiving costly efficacy trials, the biosimilar market is set for explosive growth. With resources and strong focus on developing and manufacturing biosimilars, Alvotech is well positioned to lead the charge. In fact, we proactively responded to anticipated changes in regulatory guidelines by expanding our research and development initiatives approximately 2 years ago. More recently, we have further enhanced our R&D capabilities with the establishment of an operational base in Sweden. The result is already evident in our growing pipeline: 5 approved biosimilars, 12 other disclosed development programs and already developed cell lines for additional 15 valuable targets, in total, targeting greater than $185 billion of originator markets. Now let me touch upon a few key points that I will discuss today and described on the following slide. This includes an update on the FDA process, our pipeline, a comment on the revised outlook for the year and update on our marketed products. So let's turn to the next slide. As announced last week, we received a complete response letter, or CRL, from the FDA for our BLA for the proposed biosimilar to Simponi. The sole reason noted in the CRL concerns unresolved issues identified by FDA during the inspection of our Reykjavik facility, which concluded in July of this year. Let me make it clear. This CRL did not change the status of Reykjavik manufacturing facility, which continues to be an FDA-approved site that produce and will continue to produce our current marketed products in U.S. Also, the site is approved to manufacture for global markets and continues to get approvals for our new product launches. The facilities referenced in our regulatory application, including our Reykjavik site, are of course regularly inspected by several global regulatory agencies as a routine part of the review process. For example, both the European Medicines Agency and Japan's PMPA inspected our Reykjavik site earlier this year in support of our new product approvals in these markets that will occur in third and fourth quarter. Leveraging several successful inspection by many regulatory authorities, including recent inspection by FDA in the third quarter of 2024 which yielded only 2 minor Form 483 observations, we remain committed to continuous improvement of our manufacturing operations. To support consistent and effective leadership at the site, we have expanded the responsibility of Joseph McClellan, current Chief Scientific Officer, by appointing him as Chief Operating Officer. In his role, Joseph will be responsible for technical operations as well as research and development, supply chain and project management. Before joining Alvotech in 2019, Joseph held positions of increased responsibility at Wyeth and Pfizer in the United States over a span of 17 years. During his tenure at Alvotech, he has played a key role in advancing and strengthening our high-performing research and development organization and its pipeline. His commitment to uphold best-in-class quality standards and operational excellence will position Alvotech to address any concerns raised by FDA at our facility. Although we are disappointed by the approval delay resulting from the CRL, we remain committed to promptly resolve any outstanding matter relating to the facility. Once FDA provides clarity later this month on the specific issue identified during the inspection, we will address those in a timely manner. Once we respond to the CRL, we anticipate the approval of our BLA may be granted as early as the first half of 2026 in accordance with 6 months statutory review periods. With this review timing, we still anticipate being one of the first, if not the only approved biosimilar to Simponi in U.S. and other global markets. Of note, we have already received approval in Japan and U.K. with the EMA approval expected shortly for our biosimilar to Simponi. So please turn to the next slide addressing our revenue growth. Later in the call, Linda will discuss our third quarter financial results and full year guidance in detail. When we reported our full year guidance in March, we signaled that the first half and second half of the year would be relatively balanced, while the fourth quarter would be the strongest of the year due to anticipated product approvals and launches which were occurring later in the year. Following the receipt of CRL from FDA, we revised our outlook for full year to $570 million to $600 million top line revenues and adjusted EBITDA of $130 million to $150 million. We believe the costs incurred on temporary loss in product revenue a necessary investment in our future growth and will make the company stronger as we continue to expand our portfolio of products and launch into additional global markets. As you can see on this slide, Alvotech's revenue growth has been extraordinary or 127% on average per year from 2021 to year-end 2024. With the latest guidance we have given, we are projecting a compounded average growth rate of 94% from 2021 until end of this year. As we are launching 3 more biosimilars this year, this contributes to both licensing and product revenues, and our strong pipeline and increased R&D will allow license revenues to continue to be a significant revenue contributor. We are very pleased to say that we are seeing very strong global interest in our enhanced product portfolio. We continue to sign numerous contracts with our partners globally, which will continue to deliver strong milestone revenues and secure strong market share globally going forward. So please turn to the next slide. Now I will turn to how the markets for the existing products have evolved. In the U.S., we continue to hold the second largest market share in the Humira biosimilar segment and our products remain the fastest-growing Humira biosimilar. The originator share is eroding and expected to fall below 50% of its original volume by year-end, with most volume continuing to shift to biosimilars and much smaller portion transitioning to novel therapies. In Europe, our partner, STADA, continues to grow volumes for Hukyndra. We have seen average quarter-on-quarter growth of 12% the last 4 quarters. Hukyndra now holds the top position in several of the 10 largest EU markets, including Austria and Sweden, and has reached 10% share in France, competing against 9 other biosimilars. In Canada, SIMLANDI, marketed with JAMP Pharma, remains the fastest-growing Humira biosimilar. With respect to our biosimilar to Stelara in U.S., our partner, Teva, continues to secure formulary coverage, and we are among the top 3 biosimilars on the market for this reference product. In Europe, we were first to launch Stelara biosimilar. And while the competition has increased, we are still holding a leading position in the European markets, where we have launched our product with about 10% share of the total Stelara market and 25% share of the biosimilar segment. We expect 50% of Stelara's European market to transition to biosimilars by year-end. With that, I will hand the call over to Joseph McClellan, who will discuss our portfolio, including the near-term launches. So over to you, Joseph.