Regeneron beats quarterly results on strong demand for eczema, eye treatments

(Reuters) - Drugmaker Regeneron Pharmaceuticals exceeded estimates for second-quarter revenue and profit on Thursday, driven by strong demand for its top-selling eczema and eye drugs.

The company has been upgrading patients who use its eye treatment, Eylea, to a higher-dose version to beat the impact from cheaper biosimilars available in the market and rival drugs.

U.S. sales of Eylea, jointly developed with Bayer AG, rose 2% to $1.53 billion in the reported quarter from a year earlier, above LSEG estimates of $1.47 billion.

The sales included $304 million from the 8-milligram dose version of the drug, which is four times the regular dosage.

Last week, rival Swiss drugmaker Roche highlighted strong demand for its eye treatment, Vabysmo, and raised its full-year earnings forecast.

Regeneron's anti-inflammatory drug, Dupixent, posted quarterly sales of $3.56 billion, beating estimates of $3.47 billion.

The company's French partner Sanofi records Dupixent sales, and profits are split equally between the firms.

Regeneron has filed for U.S. FDA's approval of Dupixent, currently greenlit for five diseases, as an add-on treatment for a chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

The health regulator is expected to make a decision on the additional indication by Sept. 27.

Regeneron reported an adjusted profit of $11.56 per share on total revenue of $3.55 billion for the quarter, above analysts' estimates of $10.61 per share and $3.38 billion, according to LSEG data.

(Reporting by Christy Santhosh in Bengaluru; Editing by Shreya Biswas)