An intriguing battle is brewing in the market to treat patients with transthyretin amyloid cardiomyopathy (ATTR-CM). It pits heavyweight champion Pfizer, middleweight contender Alnylam and feisty new entrant BridgeBio.
So far, BridgeBio is showing plenty of punching power with Attruby, its ATTR-CM treatment which was approved by the FDA on Nov. 22 and launched on Dec. 11.
On Thursday, the California biotech reported that 1,028 unique prescriptions have been written by 516 different healthcare professionals in the U.S.
BridgeBio’s figures are through Feb. 17 and show increased momentum since the company reported at the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference on Jan. 13 that Attruby had attracted 430 scripts written by 248 unique prescribers.
“This is well above the 700-900 (prescriptions) we were hearing for buyside [analyst] expectations,” analysts at Evercore ISI wrote in a note to investors. “It is safe to say this launch is off to a great start.”
The company did not break down how many prescribers are new versus those who have switched from Pfizer’s Vyndaqel family of ATTR-CM treatments, which generated sales of $5.4 billion last year, accounting for a 64% year-over-year increase in the booming indication.
BridgeBio’s chief commercial officer Matt Outten said in a press release that the company was “very encouraged” by the launch and that prescriptions were “being successfully filled across all patient types."
In a note to investors, Mizuho Securities analyst Salim Syed pointed out that “importantly, today’s number doesn’t include refill prescriptions.”
“Using all our (conservative) assumptions, Attruby is still landing handily north of the current 2025 U.S. sales consensus of $86 million, by our math,” Syed wrote.
In the wake of the fourth-quarter presentation, BridgeBio’s share price had increased 6% by mid-morning on Thursday.
In a market that is expected to grow to between $15 billion to $20 billion over the next 10 years, BridgeBio is well positioned. So too is Alnylam, which has a March 23 decision date for its ATTR-CM candidate vutrisiran.
Earlier this month, when BridgeBio’s treatment was approved in Europe as Beyonttra, it kicked in a $75 million milestone payment. BridgeBio’s commercial partner in Europe is Bayer, which will pay a 30%-plus royalty on sales.
BridgeBio also reported that it finished 2024 with $681 million in cash, which is up from $393 million year over year. As it fortified its commercial operations in preparation for the launch of Attruby, BridgeBio’s operating expenses increased from $617 million in 2023 to $815 million in 2024.
BridgeBio has fully enrolled phase 3 trials for drugs that treat three genetic diseases, with hopes of launching each by 2027 to achieve product diversity.