American billionaire Martine Rothblatt's United Therapeutics posts record $832.5 million third-quarter revenue

United Therapeutics Corp., the drugmaker founded and run by American billionaire Martine Rothblatt, reported record third-quarter revenue of $832.5 million, beating analysts' forecasts, though a jump in research spending cut its profit.

Revenue rose 4% from $799.5 million a year earlier, the Silver Spring, Maryland-based company said on Nov. 4. Analysts had expected about $782.6 million. Net income fell 24% to $258.6 million, and diluted earnings per share dropped to $5.71 from $7.16, below the $6.04 analysts had forecast.

The shares rose 5.9% to $636.59 shortly after the results were released, giving the company a market value of about $25.8 billion.

Tyvaso DPI, the dry-powder inhaled version of its biggest drug, remained the main source of growth, with sales up 13% to $378.5 million. Sales of Orenitram, a tablet, rose 11% to $145 million, and Unituxin, a treatment for a childhood cancer, gained 9% to $52.3 million. Nebulized Tyvaso fell 12% to $125.3 million and Remodulin slipped 3% to $122 million. The company said competing therapies hurt sales of both forms of Tyvaso and Remodulin.

Research and development costs more than doubled to $279.2 million from $127.5 million, mainly because of the purchase of Thymmune Therapeutics, which the company booked as an expense. Selling, general and administrative costs fell 20% to $146.4 million after United Therapeutics reversed a $66.5 million legal provision tied to a patent case with Sandoz Inc. That case was dismissed on Oct. 28 as part of a wider settlement with Liquidia Corp., which agreed in October to pay about $380.7 million to end all its lawsuits with United Therapeutics.

"United Therapeutics is entering a period of extraordinary growth," Rothblatt, the chairperson and chief executive officer, said in the statement. "We are advancing a portfolio of new therapies designed to exponentially increase the number of patients we can serve."

Royalty deal with Pfizer

On the same day, the company agreed to pay $525 million to Arena Pharmaceuticals Inc., a Pfizer Inc. unit, to end the low double-digit royalty it owed on sales of ralinepag, a once-daily pill for pulmonary arterial hypertension that is under review by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. A decision is due by June 24, 2027. Arena can still earn up to $400 million in milestone payments.

"This transaction demonstrates our confidence in the revenue opportunity for oral ralinepag," Chief Financial Officer James Edgemond said.

The FDA is also reviewing an application to expand the use of nebulized Tyvaso to idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, a lung-scarring disease, with a decision expected around April 2027.

United Therapeutics ended September with $3.54 billion in cash and investments. It used up a $2 billion share buyback program approved in March, and its board approved a new $2 billion program in October.

Rothblatt, a lawyer, co-founded Sirius Satellite Radio before starting United Therapeutics in 1996, after her daughter was diagnosed with pulmonary arterial hypertension, a rare and life-threatening form of high blood pressure in the lungs. The company is also developing pig organs for transplant into humans. She held about 669,000 shares directly and through family trusts after an Oct. 22 sale and has been selling stock on most trading days under a pre-arranged plan. Forbes valued her fortune at $1.7 billion on its 2026 billionaires list.