Ipsen raises FY 2026 guidance after 23.5% CER sales growth in H1

Ipsen has posted first-half 2026 total sales of €2.19bn, up 20.4% as reported and 23.5% at constant exchange rates, and has sharply upgraded its full-year guidance on the back of strong commercial momentum and a run of positive late-stage clinical readouts.

Core operating income reached €844.9m, a 28.8% increase year on year, with the core operating margin expanding 2.5 percentage points to 38.6%. Free cash flow grew 34.9% to €651.7m, and the company closed the period with net cash of just over €1bn.

Chief executive David Loew said the result demonstrated that all three of Ipsen's therapeutic areas, namely oncology, rare disease and neuroscience, were contributing to growth. "This momentum enables us to upgrade our 2026 guidance while continuing to invest in innovation and future growth," he said.

Pipeline milestones

The half-year period produced several meaningful clinical events. Dysport met the primary endpoint in both the E-BEOND and C-BEOND Phase III trials, showing statistically significant reductions in monthly migraine days versus placebo in episodic and chronic patients respectively. Ipsen says this makes Dysport the first botulinum toxin to demonstrate Phase III efficacy across both migraine subtypes; regulatory submissions are planned.

Iqirvo, the company's therapy for primary biliary cholangitis, generated striking Phase IIIb data from the ELSPIRE study: 85% of patients on Iqirvo achieved alkaline phosphatase normalisation at Week 52 versus 23% on placebo. Ipsen intends to submit the data to regulators and present full results at a scientific congress, with the primary aim of expanding the addressable patient population.

A setback came in the form of Bylvay in biliary atresia. The Phase III BOLD trial, which evaluated odevixibat in patients who had undergone a Kasai hepatoportoenterostomy, did not meet its primary endpoint of improved native liver survival, though the safety profile was consistent with its approved indications.

Acquisitions and market context

Ipsen has also been active on the business development front. It completed the acquisition of Memo Therapeutics AG for €200m upfront, gaining potravitug, a Phase II antibody targeting BK polyomavirus in kidney transplant recipients. The asset holds FDA Fast Track and EU Orphan Drug designations. Separately, its proposed acquisition of Kartos Therapeutics for $450m upfront, with up to $1.3bn in milestones, centres on navtemadlin, an oral MDM2 inhibitor in Phase III development for myelofibrosis; registrational POIESIS trial data are expected in 2027.

For the full year, Ipsen now guides for total sales growth above 20% at constant exchange rates, up from a prior target of above 13%, and a core operating margin above 37%, up from above 35%. The guidance excludes any impact from potential further late-stage external-innovation transactions.

The upgraded guidance places Ipsen among the stronger performers in mid-cap European speciality pharma this year. The company's shift away from dependence on Somatuline, which faces potential generic lanreotide competition, appears to be progressing: the non-Somatuline portfolio grew 24.8% at constant rates in the half. Investors will monitor the pace of the Kartos close, the timing of regulatory submissions for Dysport in migraine and Iqirvo, and early data from corabotase, a first-in-class recombinant neuroinhibitor that showed encouraging Phase II data in glabellar lines. Third-quarter sales will be reported on 22 October 2026.