Legend Biotech Corporation (NASDAQ: LEGN) has released its financial results for the fourth quarter and full year of 2023, along with key business highlights. The company reported licensing income of USD 35.2 million and cooperation income of USD 249.8 million, primarily attributed to milestone payments related to the Carvykti (ciltacabtagene autoleucel; cilta-cel) licensing agreement with J&J and product sales commissions. Research and development (R&D) expenses for the quarter and the full year were USD 105.7 million and USD 382.2 million, respectively, marking increases of USD 24.9 million and USD 46.6 million compared to the same periods in the previous year. The majority of these expenses were allocated to support ongoing R&D for Carvykti.
Carvykti achieved Q4 sales of USD 159 million and total annual sales of USD 500 million in 2023. The BCMA-directed chimeric antigen receptor T cell (CAR-T) therapy has recently become commercially available in Germany and Austria, with over 2,500 patients treated across more than 80 authorized treatment centers. During the period, the European Medicines Agency’s Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) recommended label expansion for the drug to include adult patients with relapsed and refractory multiple myeloma who have received at least one prior treatment, including an immunomodulatory agent and a proteasome inhibitor, and have developed disease progression and resistance to lenalidomide during the last treatment. The FDA’s Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee (ODAC) is scheduled to review data from the CARTITUDE-4 study on March 15, which involves patients previously treated with at least one therapy, including proteasome inhibitors and immunomodulators.
As of December 31, 2023, Legend Biotech holds cash and cash equivalents, deposits, and short-term investments totaling USD 1.3 billion, which the company believes will provide sufficient funding support until the end of 2025.- Flcube.com
