Key Takeaways
- Syringe maker Catalent suggested soaring demand for injectable weight-loss drugs could lead to sizable revenue gains, and shares surged.
- The company said sales of its pre-filled syringes could increase more than five-fold because of the popularity of those drugs.
- Catalent also released preliminary quarterly results, and revenue exceeded forecasts.
Syringe maker Catalent (CTLT) said soaring demand for injectable weight-loss drugs could lead to big revenue gains, and shares surged over 11%.
The company indicated that it expected a majority of its current and upcoming production capacity for pre-filled syringes until fiscal year 2026 to soon be booked out.
Catalent syringes are used to deliver Novo Nordisk’s (NVO) Wegovy, a diabetes treatment that has been shown to help patients lose weight. Wegovy is in the class of drugs known as GLP-1, which also includes Novo Nordisk’s Ozempic and Eli Lilly’s (LLY) Mounjaro and Zepbound.
CEO Alessandro Maselli said Catalent’s “exposure to the GLP-1 opportunity is rapidly growing.” He added that the company is planning to speed up expansion of its fill-and-finish operations in Bloomington, Ind. and Anagni in Italy.
Maselli indicated that once those expanded facilities are operational, revenue for its products delivering GLP-1 drugs could exceed $500 million, versus less than $100 million anticipated in fiscal 2024.
Catalent also reported preliminary first quarter fiscal 2024 revenue of $982 million, down 4% from a year ago but more than analysts’ estimates. The company announced on Monday it was delaying release of its quarterly statement because of a $700 million goodwill impairment charge.
Even with Wednesday’s gains, Catalent shares remained lower for 2023.
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