Incyte Projects Continued Strong Growth for Jakafi in 2020

Incyte’s dependence on its drug Jakafi, a limited distribution drug, continued to grow in 2019. Jakafi’s revenue of $1.7 billion increased 21% compared to 2018 and represented more than 80% of total company revenue of $2.1 billion in 2019. Incyte projects Jakafi sales of $1.88 billion to $1.95 billion in 2020.

Patient demand drove Jakafi’s 2019 growth across all three indications. Jakafi is a janus kinase inhibitor that works to regulate the number of blood cells a person might produce.

• Used to treat adults with polycythemia vera (rare, chronic blood cancer where the bone marrow produces too many red blood cells) who have already taken a medicine called hydroxyurea and it did not work well enough or they could not tolerate it.
• Used to treat adults with certain types of myelofibrosis (bone marrow cancer or blood cancer).
• Used to treat adults and children 12 years of age and older with acute graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) who have taken corticosteroids and they did not work well enough.

Incyte recently announced that the second randomized, vehicle-controlled, pivotal Phase 3 study from the TRuE-AD clinical trial program has met its primary endpoint. Patients with mild to moderate atopic dermatitis showed substantial improvement after being treated with ruxolitinib cream. About 11 million Americans have this form of eczema. Incyte has been projecting up to $3 billion in annual sales for the drug by 2027. 

Jakafi also was approved by the FDA and launched in 2019 for the treatment of steroid-refractory acute graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) among adults and children aged 12 years and older. Incyte expects to add a significant boost to sales, although myelofibrosis continues to be the largest portion of net sales.

Incyte’s objectives for 2020 include continuing the growth of patients treated in myelofibrosis and leveraging a nationwide disease awareness campaign by increasing the number of patients on therapy in polycythemia vera.

Takeaway: Incyte’s priorities also include continuing the momentum started in 2019 in GVHD.