First quarter performance driven by strong year-over-year royalty revenue growth of 56%
Reaffirms Previously Raised 2026 Full-Year Financial Guidance Reflecting Anticipated Partial-Year Contribution from Pending XOMA Royalty Acquisition
Conference call begins at
“The first few months of 2026 have already proven to be highly productive and transformative for Ligand,” said
First Quarter 2026 Financial Results
First-quarter 2026 results reflect continued strong momentum in the royalty business, with royalty revenue growing 56% year-over-year. Total revenues and income for the first quarter of 2026 were
Cost of Captisol for the first quarter of 2026 was
Non-operating expense, net, was
GAAP net loss was
As of
2026 Financial Guidance Update
Ligand is reaffirming its 2026 full-year financial guidance, which was raised on
First Quarter 2026 Corporate Highlights and Portfolio Updates
On
The acquisition further diversifies Ligand’s royalty portfolio across therapeutic areas such as ophthalmology, oncology, CNS and rare diseases and across stages of development and biopharma partners. The anticipated XOMA acquisition will add over 120 commercial, clinical, and preclinical-stage assets to Ligand’s broad and growing royalty portfolio, highlighted by Roche’s Vabysmo (faricimab-svoa), Day One Pharmaceuticals’, now
Filspari
On
People with FSGS who do not have nephrotic syndrome span across different types of FSGS and represent a population aligned with the KDIGO guidelines for treating glomerular diseases. Travere estimates that the addressable population in the
On
- Filspari achieved record 993 new patient start forms for IgAN in the
U.S. in the first quarter;U.S. net product sales grew 88% year over year to$105 million - The first FSGS patients were treated within one week of approval
- The SPARX Study evaluating Filspari in post-transplant patients with recurrent IgAN or FSGS is on track to complete enrollment in the second quarter of 2026
Qtorin rapamycin
On
On
- NDA for Qtorin rapamycin for the treatment of MLM is on track for planned submission in second half of 2026
- Accelerating
U.S. launch readiness for Qtorin rapamycin for MLMs; potential to become the first FDA-approved therapy and first-line, standard-of-care treatment for this serious, lifelong disease affecting an estimated more than 30,000 diagnosed patients in theU.S. - Initiation of the Phase 3 trial of Qtorin rapamycin for the treatment of cutaneous venous malformations is planned for second half of 2026
- Initiation of the Phase 2 trial of Qtorin rapamycin for the treatment of clinically significant angiokeratomas is planned for second quarter of 2026
On
Lasofoxifene
On
- Lasofoxifene is currently in a Phase 3 clinical trial in combination with abemaciclib, a CDK4/6 inhibitor, as a targeted therapy for estrogen receptor-positive (ER+), HER2-negative, ESR1-mutated metastatic breast cancer, a population with limited treatment options following progression on aromatase inhibitors and CDK4/6 inhibitors. The primary endpoint of the study is statistically significant improvement in progression free survival (PFS) as determined by blinded, independent central review (BICR). The ongoing Phase 3 trial aims to establish a new standard of care for this genetically defined patient group
- LeonaBio is amending the ELAINE-3 trial protocol to increase the sample size from 500 participants to up to 600 participants. The primary goal of the amendment is to help ensure that the trial will have the appropriate number of disease progression events. The Company expects to complete enrollment of the Phase 3 ELAINE-3 clinical trial in the fourth quarter of 2026 and to have topline data in the second half of 2027
AVIM Therapy/Virtue SAB
On
- Accelerated patient enrollment of the BACKBEAT global pivotal study, in collaboration with Medtronic, evaluating the efficacy and safety of AVIM Therapy for the treatment of uncontrolled hypertension in patients indicated for a pacemaker
- Initiated patient enrollment in the Virtue SAB
U.S. pivotal trial, a randomized head-to-head IDE registrational clinical trial comparing Virtue SAB with the commercially available AGENT paclitaxel-coated balloon for the treatment of coronary in-stent restenosis
On
Together, the two BDD’s for AVIM Therapy cover indications that encompass both the broader population of patients with uncontrolled hypertension despite medication and increased cardiovascular risk as well as the specific pacemaker-indicated population with uncontrolled hypertension being evaluated in the BACKBEAT global pivotal trial, which
Bot/Bal
On
Tzield
On
Adjusted Financial Measures
Ligand reports adjusted net income from continuing operations, adjusted net income per diluted share and adjusted earnings per diluted share in addition to, and not as a substitute for, financial measures calculated in accordance with GAAP, and does not consider such measures superior to GAAP results. The Company also reports “core” versions of these measures, which exclude any realized gains from the sale of Viking Therapeutics common stock.
Adjusted earnings per diluted share is a key component of the financial metrics utilized by the Company’s board of directors to evaluate management performance and determine certain elements of management compensation. GAAP results include items such as share-based compensation expense, amortization of acquisition-related and intangible assets, changes in contingent liabilities, mark-to-market adjustments on investments in public companies, transaction-related costs and related tax effects, which are excluded from adjusted results and are detailed in the reconciliations included at the end of this press release.
Conference Call and Webcast
Ligand management will host a conference call today beginning at
About
Ligand is a leading royalty aggregator, partnering with biopharmaceutical companies to finance and advance late-stage clinical development programs. The company owns and manages one of the largest and most diversified portfolios of biopharmaceutical royalties in the industry, with economic interests in more than 100 development and commercial-stage assets. Ligand funds high-value programs in exchange for long-term economic interests, aligning capital with clinical and commercial success. The company’s royalty portfolio is designed to deliver consistent and predictable revenue streams across a broad range of therapeutic assets. Ligand also licenses its proprietary technologies, Captisol® and NITRICIL™, to support drug development and formulation across its global partner network. For more information, visit www.ligand.com or follow Ligand on X and LinkedIn.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements, as defined in Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, regarding Ligand’s current expectations. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, could be deemed to be forward-looking statements. In some instances, words such as “plans,” “believes,” “expects,” “anticipates,” and “will,” and similar expressions, are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which reflect our good faith beliefs (or those of the indicated third parties) and speak only as of the date hereof. These forward-looking statements include, without limitation, Ligand’s ability to expand its portfolio with life sciences royalty opportunities; the timing of clinical and regulatory events of Ligand’s partners and other commercialization and marketing efforts; the timing of the initiation or completion of preclinical studies and clinical trials by Ligand and its partners; the timing of product launches by Ligand or its partners; and guidance regarding projected 2026 financial results. Actual events or results may differ from Ligand’s expectations due to risks and uncertainties inherent in Ligand’s business, including, without limitation: Ligand relies on collaborative partners for milestone payments, royalties, materials revenue, contract payments and other revenue projections and may not receive expected revenue; Ligand may not receive expected revenue from Captisol material sales; Ligand and its partners may not be able to timely or successfully advance any product(s) in its internal or partnered pipeline or receive regulatory approval and there may not be a market for the product(s) even if successfully developed and approved; Ligand may not achieve its financial guidance for 2026; Ligand faces competition in acquiring royalties and locating suitable royalties to acquire; Ligand may not be able to create future revenues and cash flows through the acquisition of royalties or by developing innovative therapeutics; products under development by Ligand or its partners may not receive regulatory approval; the total addressable market for our partners’ products may be smaller than estimated; Ligand faces competition with respect to its technology platforms which may demonstrate greater market acceptance or superiority; Ligand is currently dependent on a single source sole supplier for Captisol and failures by such supplier may result in delays or inability to meet the Captisol demands of its partners; Ligand’s partners may change their development focus and may not execute on their sales and marketing plans for marketed products for which Ligand has an economic interest; Ligand’s collaboration partners may become insolvent; Ligand’s and its partners’ products may not be proved to be safe and efficacious and may not perform as expected and uncertainty regarding the commercial performance of such products; Ligand or its partners may not be able to protect their intellectual property and patents covering certain products and technologies may be challenged or invalidated; cyber-attacks or other failures in telecommunications or information technology systems could result in information theft, data corruption and significant disruption to Ligand’s business operations; Ligand’s partners may terminate any of their agreements or the development or commercialization of any of its products; Ligand and its partners may experience delays in the commencement, enrollment, completion or analysis of clinical testing for its product candidates, or significant issues regarding the adequacy of its clinical trial designs or the execution of its clinical trials, challenges, costs and charges associated with integrating acquisitions with Ligand’s existing businesses; Ligand may not be able to successfully implement its strategic growth plan and continue the development of its proprietary programs; restrictions under Ligand’s credit agreement may limit its flexibility in operating its business and a default under the agreement could result in a foreclosure of the collateral securing such obligations; Ligand may not realize the anticipated benefits from investments in financing instruments such as convertible notes; XOMA's products pipeline and the anticipated timing of completion of the proposed XOMA acquisition; and changes in general economic conditions, including as a result of war, conflict, epidemic diseases, the imposition and/or announcement of tariffs and ongoing or future litigation could expose Ligand to significant liabilities and have a material adverse effect on the Company. The failure to meet expectations with respect to any of the foregoing matters may reduce Ligand’s stock price. Additional information concerning these and other risk factors affecting Ligand can be found in prior press releases available at www.ligand.com as well as in Ligand’s public periodic filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission available at www.sec.gov. Ligand disclaims any intent or obligation to update these forward-looking statements beyond the date of this release, including the possibility of additional license fees and milestone revenues we may receive. This caution is made under the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.
Other Disclaimers and Trademarks
The information in this press release regarding certain third-party products and programs, including Lasofoxifene, a LeonaBio product, AVIM Therapy and Virtue SAB, Orchestra products, Botensilimab and Balstilimab, Agenus products, Filspari, a Travere Therapeutics product, Ohtuvayre, a Merck product, Tzield, a Sanofi product, and Qtorin rapamycin, a Palvella Therapeutics product candidate, comes from information publicly released by the owners of such products and programs. Ligand is not responsible for, and has no role in, the development of such products or programs.
Ligand owns or has rights to trademarks and copyrights that it uses in connection with the operation of its business including its corporate name, logos and websites. Other trademarks and copyrights appearing in this press release are the property of their respective owners. The trademarks Ligand owns include Ligand, Captisol, NITRICIL and Zelsuvmi. Solely for convenience, some of the trademarks and copyrights referred to in this press release are listed without the®,© and™ symbols, but Ligand will assert, to the fullest extent under applicable law, its rights to its trademarks and copyrights.
References to “Ligand,” the “Company,” “we,” “our” and similar expressions include
Contacts:
Investors:
(858) 550-7761
Media:
(914) 315-6072
[Tables Follow]
CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS (Unaudited, in thousands, except per share amounts) | |||||||
| Three Months Ended | |||||||
| 2026 | 2025 | ||||||
| Revenues and income: | |||||||
| Revenue from intangible royalty assets | $ | 32,931 | $ | 21,587 | |||
| Income from financial royalty assets | 10,027 | 5,902 | |||||
| Royalties | 42,958 | 27,489 | |||||
| Captisol | 8,654 | 13,460 | |||||
| Contract revenue and income | 110 | 4,384 | |||||
| Total revenues and income | 51,722 | 45,333 | |||||
| Operating costs and expenses: | |||||||
| Cost of Captisol | 3,273 | 4,849 | |||||
| Amortization of intangibles | 8,097 | 8,257 | |||||
| Research and development | 2,148 | 50,085 | |||||
| General and administrative | 20,836 | 18,801 | |||||
| Fair value adjustments to partner program derivatives | — | (443 | ) | ||||
| Total operating costs and expenses | 34,354 | 81,549 | |||||
| Operating income (loss) | 17,368 | (36,216 | ) | ||||
| Non-operating income and expenses: | |||||||
| Gain (loss) from short-term investments | 3,869 | (12,367 | ) | ||||
| Loss from change in fair value of equity-method investments and other investments | (49,229 | ) | — | ||||
| Interest income, net | 4,908 | 904 | |||||
| Other non-operating expense, net | (1,175 | ) | (2,501 | ) | |||
| Total non-operating expenses, net | (41,627 | ) | (13,964 | ) | |||
| Loss before income taxes | (24,259 | ) | (50,180 | ) | |||
| Income tax benefit | 10,914 | 7,729 | |||||
| Net loss | $ | (13,345 | ) | $ | (42,451 | ) | |
| Basic net loss per share | $ | (0.67 | ) | $ | (2.21 | ) | |
| Shares used in basic per share calculation | 19,883 | 19,191 | |||||
| Diluted net loss per share | $ | (0.67 | ) | $ | (2.21 | ) | |
| Shares used in diluted per share calculation | 19,883 | 19,191 | |||||
CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS (unaudited, in thousands) | |||||||
| Assets | |||||||
| Current assets: | |||||||
| Cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments | $ | 779,405 | $ | 733,521 | |||
| Accounts receivable, net | 53,383 | 59,601 | |||||
| Inventory | 13,266 | 9,126 | |||||
| Short-term portion of financial royalty assets, net | 12,151 | 22,792 | |||||
| Income taxes receivable | 1,415 | 1,446 | |||||
| Other current assets | 5,795 | 5,785 | |||||
| Total current assets | 865,415 | 832,271 | |||||
| 318,882 | 326,979 | ||||||
| Long-term portion of financial royalty assets, net | 193,536 | 196,877 | |||||
| Noncurrent derivative assets | 13,527 | 15,632 | |||||
| Equity method investments | 31,515 | 46,500 | |||||
| Other investments | 87,770 | 121,451 | |||||
| Deferred income taxes, net | 8,473 | 8,345 | |||||
| Other assets | 12,987 | 12,582 | |||||
| Total assets | $ | 1,532,105 | $ | 1,560,637 | |||
| Liabilities and Stockholders’ Equity | |||||||
| Current liabilities: | |||||||
| Accounts payable and accrued liabilities | $ | 37,109 | $ | 34,691 | |||
| Income taxes payable | 1,893 | 1,239 | |||||
| Current contingent liabilities | 277 | 287 | |||||
| Current operating lease liabilities | 1,088 | 1,095 | |||||
| Other current liabilities | 300 | 135 | |||||
| Total current liabilities | 40,667 | 37,447 | |||||
| Long-term contingent liabilities | 3,498 | 2,934 | |||||
| Long-term operating lease liabilities | 3,993 | 4,204 | |||||
| 2030 Convertible Senior Notes, net | 446,896 | 446,192 | |||||
| Deferred income taxes, net | 22,614 | 36,019 | |||||
| Other long-term liabilities | 17,115 | 16,629 | |||||
| Total liabilities | 534,783 | 543,425 | |||||
| Total stockholders’ equity | 997,322 | 1,017,212 | |||||
| Total liabilities and stockholders’ equity | $ | 1,532,105 | $ | 1,560,637 | |||
ADJUSTED FINANCIAL MEASURES (Unaudited, in thousands, except per share amounts) | |||||||
| Three Months Ended | |||||||
| 2026 | 2025 | ||||||
| Net loss | $ | (13,345 | ) | $ | (42,451 | ) | |
| Adjustments: | |||||||
| Share-based compensation expense | 10,596 | 7,836 | |||||
| Non-cash interest expense(1) | 435 | 762 | |||||
| Amortization of intangible assets | 8,097 | 8,257 | |||||
| Amortization of financial royalty assets(2) | 1,198 | 2,565 | |||||
| Change in contingent liabilities(3) | 624 | 1,879 | |||||
| Pelthos operating loss | — | 4,745 | |||||
| (Gain) loss from short-term investments | (3,869 | ) | 12,367 | ||||
| Realized gain (loss) from short-term investments | 1,190 | (20 | ) | ||||
| Provision for current expected credit losses on financial royalty assets | 21 | (330 | ) | ||||
| Castle Creek R&D funding | — | 44,340 | |||||
| Loss from derivative assets | 837 | 174 | |||||
| Loss from change in fair value of equity-method investments and other investments(4) | 49,229 | — | |||||
| Other(5) | — | 1,273 | |||||
| Income tax effect of adjusted reconciling items above | (16,218 | ) | (13,945 | ) | |||
| Excess tax shortfall from share-based compensation(6) | (4,173 | ) | (854 | ) | |||
| Adjusted net income | $ | 34,622 | $ | 26,598 | |||
| Diluted per-share amounts attributable to common stockholders: | |||||||
| Diluted net loss per share | $ | (0.67 | ) | $ | (2.21 | ) | |
| Adjustments: | |||||||
| Share-based compensation expense | 0.50 | 0.39 | |||||
| Non-cash interest expense(1) | 0.02 | 0.04 | |||||
| Amortization of intangible assets | 0.38 | 0.41 | |||||
| Amortization of financial royalty assets(2) | 0.06 | 0.13 | |||||
| Change in contingent liabilities(3) | 0.03 | 0.09 | |||||
| Pelthos operating loss | — | 0.24 | |||||
| (Gain) loss from short-term investments | (0.18 | ) | 0.62 | ||||
| Realized gain (loss) from short-term investments | 0.06 | — | |||||
| Provision for current expected credit losses on financial royalty assets | — | (0.02 | ) | ||||
| Castle Creek R&D funding | — | 2.22 | |||||
| Loss from derivative assets | 0.04 | 0.01 | |||||
| Loss from change in fair value of equity-method investments and other investments(4) | 2.32 | — | |||||
| Other(5) | — | 0.07 | |||||
| Income tax effect of adjusted reconciling items above | (0.77 | ) | (0.70 | ) | |||
| Excess tax shortfall from share-based compensation(6) | (0.20 | ) | (0.04 | ) | |||
| Adjustment for shares excluded due to anti-dilution effect on GAAP net loss | 0.04 | 0.08 | |||||
| Adjusted diluted net income per share | $ | 1.63 | $ | 1.33 | |||
| GAAP - weighted average number of common shares - diluted | 19,883 | 19,191 | |||||
| Shares excluded due to anti-dilutive effect on GAAP net loss | 1,336 | 757 | |||||
| Adjusted weighted average number of common shares - diluted | 21,219 | 19,948 | |||||
(1) Amounts represent (a) non-cash interest expense in connection with the royalty and milestone payments purchase agreement assumed as part of the Novan acquisition in
(2) Amounts represent a portion of the contract payments and royalty receipts that are applied to reduce the carrying balance of our financial royalty assets.
(3) Amounts represent changes in fair value of contingent consideration related to CyDex and Metabasis transactions.
(4) Amounts represent loss from change in fair value of equity-method investment in Pelthos and Pelthos Series A Preferred Shares.
(5) Amounts primarily relate to R&D funding expense and other.
(6) Excess tax shortfall from share-based compensation is recorded as a discrete item within the provision for income taxes on the consolidated statements of operations as a result of the adoption of an accounting pronouncement (ASU 2016-09) on
1 The financial outlook, expectations and other forward-looking statements provided by Ligand for 2026 and beyond reflect Ligand’s judgment based on the information available at the time of this release. Please see the “Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-looking Statements” section in this release for factors that may impact Ligand’s ability to meet expectations. A reconciliation of forward-looking non-GAAP core adjusted earnings per diluted share for 2026 to the most directly comparable GAAP measures was provided in Ligand’s Acquisition of XOMA Royalty presentation on
