IQVIA lowers annual revenue forecast amid trial delays

By Puyaan Singh

(Reuters) – Contract research firm IQVIA lowered its annual revenue forecast on Thursday, due to delays in two clinical trials as one of its clients faces logistical challenges.

Shares of the company fell to $200.30, their lowest in almost a year, and were last down 2.7% at $210.29.

IQVIA said the two “mega-trials” were in their initial phase when, in September, the client informed them of the delays. The company now anticipates the trials will resume in the latter half of 2025.

It also saw the cancellation of an order during the quarter as a drug being developed was found to be ineffective.

IQVIA now expects its 2024 revenue to be between $15.35 billion and $15.4 billion, versus its previous range of $15.43 billion to $15.53 billion.

It also lowered the upper end of its adjusted per-share profit forecast to $11.20 from $11.30 previously, keeping the lower end at $11.10.

The company expects continued cancellations from large drugmakers in the fourth quarter as they reprioritize their development pipelines due to potential impacts from the U.S. government’s drug price negotiation program.

IQVIA CEO Ari Bousbib said he expects these program reprioritizations to wrap up by the end of 2024.

The company expects its contract research and technology & analytics solutions segments to grow by mid-single digits in 2025, similar to this year, Bousbib said, giving an early outlook.

Quarterly revenue from its unit that provides clinical research services was $2.16 billion, below estimates of $2.19 billion, according to data compiled by LSEG.

Contract research organizations have witnessed reduced spending from biotech clients since last year.

For the fourth quarter, IQVIA sees revenue between $3.9 billion and $3.95 billion, below Wall Street estimates of $4.06 billion.

On an adjusted basis, IQVIA’s quarterly profit of $2.84 per share beat estimates of $2.81.

(Reporting by Puyaan Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri)