Almost three years into his tenure as Lundbeck\u2019s CEO, Charl van Zyl is confident the company can prove its mettle as a \u201cneuroscience challenger\u201d capable of \u201cpunching above its weight.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
This newfound momentum continued to play out over the first half of 2026, when Lundbeck reported<\/a> sales growth of 16%. It is being sustained by brands like Vyepti and the Otsuka-partnered Rexulti, a series of near-term clinical readouts and a constant \u201cacquisitive\u201d disposition to pounce on innovation both within the company and beyond, van Zyl told Fierce in an interview.\u00a0<\/p>\n By the numbers, Rexulti, approved in major depressive disorder (MDD) and Alzheimer\u2019s disease-associated agitation, continued to lead the pack for the earnings period, growing 17% at constant currencies over the first six months of the year to 3.3 billion Danish kroner (nearly $515 million), while migraine prevention med Vyepti climbed an impressive 46% to reach 2026 first-half sales of 2.9 billion kroner ($447 million).\u00a0<\/p>\n Van Zyl described Lundbeck\u2019s overall sales momentum as \u201chealthy growth for us.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n While the company remains on track to meet the raised guidance<\/a> (PDF) it issued after the first quarter, van Zyl did caution that commercial inventory buildouts from the first half of the year won\u2019t repeat in the second, and he added that generic entrants to the company\u2019s atypical antipsychotic Abilify Maintena\u2014particularly in Canada and Australia\u2014could start to chip away at sales in the final six months of 2026.<\/p>\n Nevertheless, van Zyl appeared confident that Lundbeck\u2019s two core products are positioned to continue holding their own.\u00a0<\/p>\n The company currently expects that Vyepti could reel in peak U.S. sales of $1.1 billion, per the CEO, who noted that commercial opportunities are starting to come online in regions like Europe, alongside plans to launch into China, Japan and South Korea next year.\u00a0<\/p>\n Rexulti is also growing well across its indications, though \u201cthat will naturally slow down\u201d as competition in those fields increases\u2014as Lundbeck has itself telegraphed\u2014van Zyl added.\u00a0<\/p>\n In late April, the FDA approved<\/a> Axsome\u2019s Auvelity as the second drug in the U.S. to treat agitation associated with dementia caused by Alzheimer\u2019s disease. Auvelity also boasts an FDA nod in MDD, positioning it as a direct rival to Lundbeck\u2019s drug.\u00a0<\/p>\n Rising to the challenge\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n While long known for its psychiatric drug development bona fides, Lundbeck has in more recent years pivoted to other indications \u201cwhere we believe we understand the biology of neuroscience more,\u201d van Zyl said. The CEO admitted that psychiatry treatments can be \u201cchallenging sometimes\u201d due to trial design and the placebo effect.<\/p>\n That has led to a foray for Lundbeck into \u201cneurospeciality,\u201d he explained, highlighting areas like preventative migraine\u2014a field that has proven highly fruitful for Vyepti\u2014in the near term, plus future opportunities in niches like Parkinson\u2019s disease and beyond.\u00a0<\/p>\n Elsewhere, Lundbeck is also exploring rare neurological diseases, with van Zyl noting that the company aims to position itself as a true \u201cneuroscience challenger.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cYou know, mid-cap and punching above its weight,\u201d he explained, adding that Lundbeck is further prioritizing innovation \u201cin the sense that we will not develop anything that\u2019s \u2018me-too.\u2019\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n That ever-expanding R&D focus also covers moves beyond the firm\u2019s prior bread-and-butter small molecules and, more recently, monoclonal antibodies, as Lundbeck pursues development of other modalities, too. That said, the company these days is doing \u201ca little steering away from gene therapy,\u201d van Zyl caveated, adding that there are \u201cstill many questions\u201d around that therapeutic approach.\u00a0<\/p>\n Among the company\u2019s most advanced assets, 5-HT2C receptor agonist bexicaserin, acquired in Lundbeck\u2019s 2024 acquisition of Longboard Pharmaceuticals, is being aimed at severe childhood epilepsies, with two late-stage studies\u2014DEEp Ocean and DEEp Sea\u2014slated to read out in the fourth quarter of 2026 and the first quarter of 2027, respectively.\u00a0<\/p>\n Should those readouts prove successful, Lundbeck is eyeing a potential approval for the drug sometime in 2028, van Zyl said.\u00a0<\/p>\n That would give the company time to find its commercial footing with a new drug \u201cso that we are well on our way by 2029 and growing into the next decade with this asset,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n Slightly further afield, the company is anticipating a phase 3 readout on its multiple system atrophy contender amlenetug<\/a> at the end of 2027, the CEO said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Also part and parcel of Lundbeck\u2019s strategy is \u201cto be acquisitive,\u201d van Zyl said, noting that \u201cwe look very much at external and internal innovation and business development that makes sense for us.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n