PLANEGG/MUNICH (dpa-AFX) - Biotech company Morphosys expects only small growth at best for its key blood cancer drug Monjuvi in 2023. The SDax company expects net product sales of $80 million to $95 million for Monjuvi in the U.S. in the new year, according to a statement Thursday. Last year, U.S. Monjuvi revenues of $89.4 million (84.9 million euros) were roughly on par with the annual target of around $90 million. It was only in October that the company had to lower its forecast for the second time within a few months due to increased competitive pressure.

Analyst Richard Vosser from the bank JPMorgan had warned only a few days ago of only low Monjuvi growth in 2023 and also referred to the competition expected from the second half of the year from drugs from Genmab/Abbvie and Roche. The outlook now proves him right. According to an initial assessment Thursday, Vosser expects the median market expectation for the drug in 2023 to drop by a fifth.

Morphosys shares fell about four percent on the news. The papers were among the biggest SDax losers in 2022, down 60 percent, due to numerous business challenges. Recently, however, they had attempted to stabilize.

Based on current sales expectations for Monjuvi, financial liabilities from collaborations will be reduced to around 220 million euros at the end of 2022 from 580 million euros at the end of September, according to the company. With fewer U.S. sales of the drug for the treatment of relapsed or refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, partner Incyte will receive less money from Morphosys. Therefore, the balance sheet item mentioned above decreases accordingly. However, this has no impact on cash and cash equivalents.

The forecasts take into account the tougher competitive environment. "As we enter the third year following the launch of Monjuvi, we have calculated our 2023 sales forecast and longer-term forecasts in the approved indication to reflect the ongoing and future impact of competitive activities," Morphosys CEO Jean-Paul Kress said, according to the statement.

At the same time, the manager expects research and development costs to increase slightly in 2023 to between €290 million and €315 million due to the expansion of the development program for pelabresib. The drug candidate against the rare bone marrow cancer myelofibrosis is considered a hopeful candidate. Most recently, the company recruited patients here for an important pivotal phase III trial. Such study programs consume a lot of money.

As recently as December, Morphosys presented long-term Phase II trial data on pelabresib. Analyst Victor Floc'h of the investment house Jefferies had assessed these positively, but also emphasized that concrete conclusions on business prospects were difficult, since no long-term data on a competitor product of Abbvie were available yet. Morphosys, meanwhile, plans to have pelabresib on the market in 2025 and then to be profitable again a year later.

Success would be immensely important after a number of setbacks. Last year, for example, Swiss licensing partner Roche's trials of the Alzheimer's drug gantenerumab failed in a second attempt. In addition, hopes for royalties on the rheumatism drug Otilimab from GlaxoSmithKline were dashed, as the British company does not plan to file for approval after mixed research results.

Currently, the SDax company is receiving money from a psoriasis drug from the U.S. group Johnson & Johnson; however, it must pass this on in full to the U.S. company Royalty Pharma, which had financed Bavaria 2021 Year's expensive acquisition of the U.S. cancer specialist Constellation Pharmaceuticals./mis/men/jha/