PharmaMar Group (MSE: PHM) reported total revenues of €34.0 million in 1Q2023, compared with €53.2 million in 1Q2022. Recurring revenues, the sum of net sales plus royalties from sales made by the partners, totaled €27.4 million compared with €45.9 million in the first quarter of 2022.
This difference is mainly due to the entry onto the European market of a generic trabectedin (Yondelis®) product in the last quarter of 2022. Yondelis reported net sales of €8.1 million in the first quarter of this year, compared with €17.5 million in the same period of the previous year. The entry of the generic drug has put significant pressure on the price of Yondelis, although the change in sales measured in grams was 9% year-on-year.
Zepzelca® revenues in Europe from the early access program, mainly in France, were €5.6 million, in line with the last quarters of last year, although in the first quarter of 2022 they were €8.7 million. While the number of units sold was similar to the same period last year; there is a difference between periods due to the calculation of the adjustments resulting from the regulations governing the prices of drugs marketed through the L’autorisation d’ Access Compasionel system in France, under which Zepzelca is distributed in that territory, entailing the application of significant discounts for these drugs.
Continuing with recurring revenues, sales of raw materials to our partners, both of Yondelis and Zepzelca, amounted to €1.5 million in the first quarter of the year, compared with €7.4 million in the first quarter of 2022. This difference is temporary as our partners stocked up in previous quarters and there is a lag in purchase orders, so that this item is expected to rebound in the coming months.
Royalty income totaled €11.1 million, in line with the €11.0 million recorded during the first quarter of the same period last year. These revenues include royalties received from our partner Jazz Pharmaceuticals for Zepzelca sales in the US, which amounted to €10.2 million to March 31st (March 2022: €10.2 million). The royalties recorded for the first quarter are an estimate, as was the figure recorded in the first quarter of last year, since information on sales made by Jazz is not available at the date of publication of this report. Any discrepancies between our estimates and the final figure will be corrected in the following quarter. The real growth in royalties between the two periods was 7%, which is not reflected due to an excess in the forecast made in the royalties for the first quarter of 2022.
To the Royalties received from Jazz Pharmaceuticals must be added to the royalties on Yondelis sales received from our partners in the United States and Japan, amounting to €0.9 million in the first quarter of 2023 (€0.8 million in the same period of 2022).
Finally, non-recurring revenues, mainly consisting of those from licensing agreements, amounted to €6.5 million at March 31st, 2023, compared with €7.2 million at March 31st, 2022. In the first quarter of 2023, as well as in 2022, the revenues recorded for this item came entirely from licensing agreements related to Zepzelca.
During the first quarter of the year, R&D expenditure increased by 11% to €21.1 million, mainly as a result of the various Phase III trials, which the Company is conducting as well as the development of new molecules at earlier stages of the pipeline.
The Group recorded a net profit in this first quarter 2023 of €1.4 million, compared to €21.9m in first quarter 2022, mainly due to the drop in sales and the increase in R&D investment.
The PharmaMar Group ended the first quarter of 2023 with cash of €231.1 million and total debt of €39.8 million, which represents net cash of €191.4 million, in line with the cash position at the end of 2022.
About
PharmaMar is a pharmaceutical company headquartered in Colmenar Viejo, Madrid, Spain. Founded in 1986 as a subsidiary of Zeltia, it absorbed its parent company and all its subsidiaries in a reverse merger takeover in 2015.
The company is a component of the Madrid Stock Exchange General Index (IGBM) and the IBEX 35 since 2020, after being part of the Ibex Small Cap stock market index.
PharmaMar engages in the research and development, manufacturing and marketing of pharmaceutical drugs derived from marine-related resources for the treatment of diverse types of cancer and Alzheimer.
