Bothell-based biotech Seagen Inc. (Nasdaq: SGEN) reported Thursday a significant year-over-year revenue jump during the first quarter of 2023.
In its quarterly financial results, Seagen said it generated $520 million in revenue during the first quarter, up from $426 million during the same period in 2022, a 22% increase.
Seagen's earnings come against the backdrop of a proposed acquisition by the New York City-based pharmaceutical giant Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) for $43 billion.
"Pfizer and Seagen seek to accelerate the next generation of cancer breakthroughs and bring new solutions to patients," Seagen said in a release. The company didn't host an earnings call due to the deal, which was announced in March.
The companies expect the acquisition to close later this year or early next year, as both boards have approved the deal, but Seagen shareholders still need to approve it. The deal also requires regulatory approval.
Pfizer believes Seagen can boost its oncology business, while Seagen believes the additional resources of Pfizer can boost Seagen's reach and development. Pfizer has 24 approved cancer medicines but will gain access to four more through Seagen, which has drugs aimed at Hodgkin lymphoma and bladder, breast and cervical cancer.
Pfizer generated $100.3 billion in revenue in 2022, including $12.1 billion through its oncology business. Seagen, the largest biotech company in Washington with about 3,300 employees, generated $2 billion in revenue last year, but Pfizer said Seagen could generate more than $10 billion in revenue in 2030.
"There are people with cancer worldwide, in every country in the world. Seagen operates the U.S. We operate in Canada. We operate in Western Europe, and that's it," Seagen CEO David Epstein previously told the Business Journal. "There's a whole wide rest of the world that we would have had to build resources just to enter, and (Pfizer) already has the presence, the skills and the commercial organization."
Epstein, a former Novartis executive, took over as CEO in November after co-founder Clay Siegall resigned in May following an arrest on suspicion of domestic violence. Siegall is not facing criminal charges from the arrest and has since taken the role of CEO of West Lafayette, Indiana-based Morphimmune.
Seagen said it generated $469 million in net sales during the quarter. The biotech reported another $30 million in royalty revenue and $21 million in collaboration and license agreement revenue.
The company, founded in 1997 as Seattle Genetics, is building a 270,000-square-foot biomanufacturing facility in Everett that is set to open next year.
