Ionis Pharmaceuticals’ WAINUA Approval Signals Promising Revenue Growth

In December last year, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: IONS) and AstraZeneca’s (LSE: AZN) drug Wainua to treat nerve damage caused by a life-shortening rare disease. The drug, formerly known as eplontersen is currently the only approved treatment for polyneuropathy or nerve damage in adult patients with hereditary transthyretin-mediated amyloidosis (ATTRv-PN), that can be self-administered via an auto-injector. For Ionis, Wainua is its first commercial launch, having previously relied on partners to sell its drugs. Ionis will co-market the drug with AstraZeneca in the U.S., while the latter has exclusive rights in markets outside the U.S.

Based on Visible Alpha consensus estimates, Wainua is expected to generate $20 million in revenue in 2024. Visible Alpha consensus revenue estimates show peak sales of $1.8 billion for Wainua by 2039. The drug’s patent is set to expire on August 25, 2034. Wainua is expected to account for 3.1% of Ionis’s total revenue in 2024. By 2030, this share is estimated to rise to 23.3%. Wainua was recently approved in Canada to treat ATTRv-PN in adults and a decision by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) is expected in 2H 2024.