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A new opportunity may be emerging for Biogen's Leqembi in the battleground for Alzheimer's disease care: what happens after patients complete the fixed duration of treatment with Eli Lilly's rival drug Kisunla?According to Biogen executives, many patients appear to want to keep on taking medicine for their disease.On its first-quarter earnings call Wednesday, Biogen's North America head Alisha Alaimo noted that the first wave of Kisunla-treated patients is now reaching the end of their roughly 18-month treatment course, prompting physicians to ask what comes next.Switch to Leqembi?Alaimo said Biogen is in the process of collecting feedback. "If you look at market research, patients in general who are on either of the products want to stay on product. There is a fear of coming off and having a decline in their cognition," she said. "We do have several accounts that are looking at how they switch them to Leqembi."When Kisunla was greenlit by US regulators in mid-2024, roughly a year after Leqembi was granted a full approval, Lilly touted the cost-saving potential of its therapy, which can be stopped once amyloid plaques are cleared. Guided by brain scans, some clinical trial participants stopped treatment after six months, while others continued for up to 18 months.By contrast, Leqembi is infused every two weeks for 18 months, after which patients can switch to monthly maintenance or to a subcutaneous formulation called Leqembi IQLIK. The FDA is also expected to decide next month whether to expand the label for Leqembi IQLIK to include use as a weekly starting dose as well (see – Physician Views In-Depth: Leqembi's newer dosing forms pack perks without ditching IV).That pending decision, according to CEO Chris Viehbacher, could bolster Leqembi's appeal as a long-term therapy. "We see this as an opportunity to facilitate the care pathway, improve patient convenience and improve our competitive profile versus Kisunla," he said.Real-world persistence dataLeqembi sales hit $168 million in the first quarter, which is up 74% year-over-year, with the US accounting for $86 million of that amount.Biogen indicated that once patients start on the therapy, they tend to stay there. "New real-world data for Leqembi shows strong treatment persistence, with nearly 80% of patients remaining on therapy at 18 months and almost 70% at two years," said Priya Singhal, the company's head of development.

iStock, Feodora Chiosea Biogen’s growth was expected to stay flat through the 2030s. A key acquisition and busy late-stage pipeline have relieved the pressure and cleared the way for some early-stage bets, CEO Chris Viehbacher said Wednesday. With a late-stage pipeline set to deliver in the 2030 timeframe and new revenue expected from the acquisition of Apellis, Biogen will now look for early-stage assets to fill a pipeline that CEO Chris Viehbacher admitted is “quite thin.” “We’re looking at really building the next generation of growth,” the CEO told analysts on the company’s first quarter earnings call on Wednesday. Viehbacher has previously said that deals for early-stage assets were the goal, but analysts were looking for the company’s renewed strategy after the acquisition of kidney disease biotech Apellis last month, which fell firmly outside this goal. After that deal, Viehbacher said his business development team would be “more opportunistic” in terms of M&A specifically. “I don’t think there’s any particular need at [this] point to do that, but, you know, I guess we’ll keep an eye out, but we’re not going to be doing the search,” he said. Alzheimer’s disease Biogen ready to catch Alzheimer’s patients transitioning off Lilly’s Kisunla Key dosing differences between Eli Lilly’s Kisunla and Biogen’s Leqembi are about to come to a head in the Alzheimer’s market as patients end their 18-month course of Lilly’s product. April 29, 2026 · 3 min read · Annalee Armstrong Read more This contrasts with the company’s strategy over the past two to three years, when the team has been actively searching for M&A opportunities. “We have had a very systematic search and felt that we wanted to do M&A. I would say, with the Apellis transaction and with the pipeline, we don’t see the same need to be as proactive on that front.” Consensus estimates had Biogen’s growth staying relatively flat through the 2030s. In an effort to bend that curve upward, Biogen has built a major late-stage pipeline anchored in lupus, nephrology and neurology. Then last month, the company offered $5.6 billion to buy Apellis. “If we execute well . . . and the pipeline does come through this, this should be a company that can grow well into the into the 2030s and what we need to really be thinking about is what comes after that,” Viehbacher said. Now is the time to look at some earlier-stage research bets that could pay off further down the line, Viehbacher said. “Most of what we’re going to be focusing on is early-stage development and research, because that’s that part of the pipeline is quite thin,” he said. In particular, the CEO pointed to research stage projects, pre-investigational new drug application or Phase 1 assets. With that said, Biogen has bolstered the early pipeline with several licensing collaborations, particularly in immunology with Vanqua Bio and Dayra Therapeutics . Viehbacher also pointed to the $46 million deal with City Therapeutics inked last year to work on RNAi-based therapies for central nervous system diseases. Taking a beat Otherwise, Biogen’s earnings split analysts with revenues outpacing consensus estimates by 10% at $2.5 billion, a 2% year-over-year increase. Mizuho’s researchers called it a “solid beat,” while Truist Securities dubbed the quarter a “low quality” beat. Revenue was led by a 12% increase across Biogen’s growth products, including Alzheimer’s disease therapy Leqembi, which rose 74% year-over-year to $168 million in sales globally, and Skyclarys, which took home $151 million for 22% growth. Sales of postpartum depression drug Zurzuvae, meanwhile, doubled to $55 million. Alzheimer’s disease Biogen’s Much Anticipated Tau Readout in Alzheimer’s Will Spur More Questions Analysts, investors and scientists are eager for Biogen’s 2026 BIIB080 readout. Even if successful, executives warn that there are many more steps before the Alzheimer’s therapy could reach the market. February 9, 2026 · 4 min read · Annalee Armstrong Read more “Leqembi sales are starting to show real momentum, beating consensus estimates by +12% as barriers to Alzheimer’s therapy decline and patient awareness are slowly increasing,” BMO Capital Markets noted. Biogen also enjoyed “continued durability” of its multiple sclerosis franchise, which has been in decline for several quarters as multiple products face loss of exclusivity, according to Truist. The firm was particularly pleased by sales of Tysabri, which took home $441 million worldwide in the quarter after earning just $381 million for all of 2025. Altogether, the franchiser took home $958 million, which was flat from the year before but a beat nonetheless, William Blair commented. Analysts had been expecting $841 million instead. “A lot of the work that we have done over the last two, three years, is now coming to fruition,” Viehbacher said. “Now we are very conscious of the fact that in business, 10% is strategy, 90% is execution, and so we need to now execute as a team.”