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Introduction & Market Context
Legend Biotech Corporation (NASDAQ:LEGN) presented its first quarter 2025 financial results and corporate update on May 13, 2025, highlighting the continued commercial success of its flagship product CARVYKTI. The company’s shares have shown modest gains recently, trading at $32.38 as of May 12, 2025, up 1.89% for the day, though still well below its 52-week high of $60.87.
The presentation, led by CEO Ying Huang, President of CARVYKTI Alan Bash, and Interim CFO Jessie Yeung, emphasized CARVYKTI’s strengthening position in the multiple myeloma treatment landscape, with significant sales growth and manufacturing expansion plans to meet increasing demand.
Quarterly Performance Highlights
Legend Biotech reported total revenue of $195 million for Q1 2025, representing a 107% increase from $94 million in Q1 2024. Despite this strong top-line growth, the company recorded an IFRS net loss of $101 million, compared to a $60 million loss in the same period last year. However, the adjusted net loss improved significantly to $27 million from $85 million in Q1 2024.
As shown in the following financial highlights chart:
The company maintained a strong cash position of approximately $1.0 billion, which management expects will fund operating and capital expenditures into Q2 2026. This represents a slight decrease from the $1.1 billion reported at the end of 2024, reflecting ongoing investments in commercial expansion and manufacturing capacity.
CARVYKTI Commercial Success
CARVYKTI continued its impressive commercial trajectory, with net trade sales reaching $318 million in Q1 2025, representing 135% year-over-year growth and 10% sequential growth from the previous quarter. This performance slightly trails the $334 million reported for Q4 2024, but maintains the strong upward trend.
The following chart illustrates CARVYKTI’s consistent sales growth since its launch:
Regional performance was particularly strong outside the United States, with international sales growing 219% year-over-year and 65% quarter-over-quarter. U.S. sales increased 127% year-over-year and 5% sequentially, with the number of activated treatment sites expanding to 114.
Legend Biotech positioned CARVYKTI as the market leader in CAR-T therapy for multiple myeloma, highlighting several key achievements:
The company emphasized CARVYKTI’s status as the first and only CAR-T cell therapy demonstrating superior overall survival versus standard of care in multiple myeloma, with more than 6,000 patients treated worldwide. Management also noted the recent positive opinion from the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) for including CARTITUDE-4 overall survival benefit in CARVYKTI’s European label.
Manufacturing Expansion Strategy
To support growing demand, Legend Biotech outlined an ambitious manufacturing expansion strategy aimed at doubling commercial supply in 2025 and achieving 10,000 annualized doses by the end of the year, with plans to reach 20,000 doses by the end of 2027.
The company’s manufacturing facilities roadmap shows:
Legend highlighted its manufacturing reliability with impressive metrics: 97% success rate in CAR-T cell manufacturing, 95% on-time delivery, and a median turn-around time of 30 days. These operational efficiencies are critical as the company scales production to meet growing global demand.
A key upcoming milestone is the expected approval of a new section at the Raritan facility in the second half of 2025, along with the initiation of commercial production at the Tech Lane Facility in Belgium during the same period.
Financial Analysis
Operating expenses increased 11% compared to Q1 2024, with research and development spending up by $1 million and selling and distribution expenses rising by $17 million, reflecting the company’s continued investment in commercialization efforts and pipeline development.
The breakdown of operating expenses shows:
Despite the increased spending, Legend Biotech demonstrated improved financial efficiency with a significantly reduced adjusted net loss of $27 million compared to $85 million in Q1 2024. This improvement suggests the company is making progress toward its profitability goals as revenue scales faster than expenses.
Forward-Looking Statements & Profitability Path
Legend Biotech reaffirmed its timeline for achieving company-wide profitability in 2026, outlining three key drivers:
The company’s near-term focus includes expanding CARVYKTI’s market leadership in multiple myeloma, increasing manufacturing efficiency, and continuing margin expansion. These initiatives are supported by the company’s strong cash position of approximately $1 billion.
Recent and upcoming milestones further illustrate Legend’s strategic priorities:
The company’s pipeline extends beyond CARVYKTI, with several programs in preclinical and early clinical development targeting various indications including autoimmune diseases, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, colorectal cancer, and gastric cancers. Legend is also advancing next-generation approaches such as in vivo CAR-T delivery, which could potentially offer advantages including better cell fitness, off-the-shelf availability, and more scalable manufacturing.
As Legend Biotech continues to execute its growth strategy, investors will be closely watching whether the company can maintain CARVYKTI’s strong commercial momentum while successfully expanding manufacturing capacity to meet demand – two critical factors in achieving its profitability target by 2026.
Full presentation:
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