BENGALURU (Aug 3): Regeneron Pharmaceuticals reported a 72.5% fall in quarterly profit on Wednesday, hurt by lacklustre sales of its Covid-19 antibody cocktail after the US health regulator limited its use earlier this year.

The company recorded no sales from the drug, REGEN-COV, in the United States for the second consecutive quarter.

Regeneron had warned of no US sales from the drug in the first half of the year after the US regulator banned it, with some exceptions, in all states due to its lack of effectiveness against the Omicron coronavirus variant.

REGEN-COV's fate is shared by several therapeutics developed during the early phase of the pandemic, including sotrovimab from GSK and Vir Biotechnology, and the antibody combo developed by Eli Lilly, as they too have largely fallen behind in the United States with the virus evolving.

Regeneron's second-quarter revenue fell to US$2.86 billion in the second quarter ended June 30 from US$5.14 billion a year ago.

The hit from the lack of Covid-19-related sales was offset by strong sales of its blockbuster drugs including anti-inflammation drug Dupixent, jointly developed with Sanofi, and eye treatment Eylea.

Label expansion of Dupixent in the past few months drove sales higher, with revenue jumping nearly 40% to US$2.09 billion in the quarter.

The drug maker's net profit fell to US$852 million, or US$7.47 per share, compared with US$3.1 billion, or US$27.97 per share, a year earlier.