(Reuters) - Biogen (NASDAQ:BIIB) Inc posted lower-then-expected quarterly profit and revenue as its key oral multiple sclerosis (MS) drug Tecfidera showed signs of slowing growth, sending the company's shares down 3 percent in premarket trading on Friday.
The drug's sales have shown little sign of slowing after falling short of analysts' estimates for the first time in the third quarter of 2014. Sales of Tecfidera beat the average analyst estimate by about $36 million last quarter.
Tecfidera raked in sales of $824.9 million in the first quarter ended March 31, compared with $506 million a year earlier, but missed consensus projections of about $931 million, according to Deutsche Bank (XETRA:DBKGn).
Sales of the drug fell 10 percent compared with the fourth quarter of 2014, the company said.
We saw moderating patient growth of Tecfidera in the United States and Germany, Chief Executive George Scangos said in a statement.
Net income attributable to Biogen rose to $822.5 million, or $3.49 per share in the first quarter, from $480 million, or $2.02 per share, a year earlier.
Excluding items, the company earned $3.82 per share, well below the average analyst estimate $3.91 per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
Revenue rose about 20 percent to $2.55 billion, missing Wall Street's projections of $2.66 billion.
The Cambridge, Massachusetts-based company's stock was down about 3 percent at $416.55 before the bell.