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Ligand Reports First Quarter 2023 Financial Results
2023 Financial Guidance Raised Conference Call Begins at 4:30 p.m. Eastern Time Today SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated

About this update from Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated
[{"type":"text","content":"\n2023 Financial Guidance Raised\n\n\nConference Call Begins at 4:30 p.m. Eastern Time Today\n\n\n SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--\nLigand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ: LGND) today reported financial results for the three months ended March 31, 2023, and provided an operating forecast and business updates. Ligand management will host a conference call today beginning at 4:30 p.m. Eastern time to discuss this announcement and answer questions.\n\n\n“2023 is off to a strong start with $44.0 million in first quarter revenues driven by the continued growth of our royalty revenue and the approval milestone from Travere's FILSPARI for the treatment of IgA nephropathy,\" said Todd Davis, CEO of Ligand. \"We have several partner catalysts this year that have the potential to further accelerate our growth for years to come. In addition to our existing portfolio, our refined corporate strategy is focused on continuing the expansion of our portfolio of late-stage partnered programs. Several initiatives are underway to increase the scale of our business development efforts related to this, with the goal of increasing the pace of investments while remaining disciplined on our capital deployment.\"\n\n\nFirst Quarter 2023 Financial Results\n\n\nTotal revenues for the first quarter of 2023 were $44.0 million, compared with $36.5 million for the same period in 2022. Royalties for the first quarter of 2023 were $17.2 million, compared with $13.4 million for the same period in 2022, with the increase primarily attributable to Kyprolis and the growth in sales of drugs using the Pelican platform. Core Captisol sales were $10.6 million for the first quarter of 2023, compared with $6.2 million for the same period in 2022. The difference in sales was due to the timing of customer orders. There were no Captisol sales related to COVID-19 for the first quarter of 2023, compared with $5.9 million for the same period in 2022. Contract revenue was $16.2 million for the first quarter of 2023, compared with $11.0 million for the same period in 2022. The difference was due to the timing of partner milestone events.\n\n\nCost of Captisol was $3.7 million for the first quarter of 2023, compared with $4.7 million for the same period in 2022, with the decrease primarily due to lower total Captisol sales. Amortization of intangibles was $8.5 million, compared ...