Rigel Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:RIGL) reported second-quarter 2026 total revenue of $78.7 million and net income of $17.3 million, while outlining plans to launch newly licensed breast cancer therapy VEPPANU in mid-August.
The company generated $67 million in U.S. net product sales during the quarter, up 14% from the prior-year period. Contract revenue added $11.7 million, driven by international product availability, royalties, drug-supply deliveries and a regulatory milestone payment.
Commercial portfolio posts sales growth
TAVALISSE recorded quarterly net product sales of $47.4 million, a year-over-year increase of 18%. Chief Commercial Officer David Santos said the result was aided by favorable gross-to-net and inventory dynamics.
REZLIDHIA net product sales rose 27% to $8.9 million. GAVRETO generated $10.7 million in sales, representing a modest decline from the prior year, according to Chief Financial Officer Dean Schorno.
Rigel said it remains committed to supporting its existing products even as VEPPANU becomes the company’s primary commercial focus. During the question-and-answer session, Santos said the company has developed targeted approaches for TAVALISSE and REZLIDHIA, including identifying potential IDH1-mutated patients for REZLIDHIA through diagnostic data and other tools.
Contract revenue included $5.8 million from Kissei, including a $4 million regulatory milestone associated with a Japanese marketing authorization application for olutasidenib, as well as drug supplies. Rigel also reported $5 million from Grifols and $300,000 from Medison, primarily related to royalties and drug supply.
Internationally, partner Knight launched TAVALISSE in Mexico in May and received Brazilian regulatory approval, with a commercial launch planned for the second half of 2026. Kissei also submitted a Japanese new drug application for elacestrant in May.
VEPPANU launch planned for mid-August
Rigel completed its exclusive global license for VEPPANU, or vepdegestrant, in June. The therapy is FDA approved for patients with second-line or later ER-positive, HER2-negative, ESR1-mutated advanced or metastatic breast cancer.
Company executives described VEPPANU as the first and only FDA-approved proteolysis-targeting chimera, or PROTAC, in the indication. Rigel expects the product to be commercially available in mid-August, ahead of its earlier expectations.
Santos said the company has prepared distributors, patient-service providers, payers, group purchasing organizations and targeted accounts for the launch. Rigel’s sales force has completed training, and its RIGEL ONECARE patient-services hub is operational. The company expects to begin a branded omnichannel campaign in the fourth quarter.
Rigel estimated that about 20,000 U.S. patients annually are diagnosed and treated for second-line or later ER-positive, HER2-negative, ESR1-mutated metastatic breast cancer. The company characterized that as a market opportunity exceeding $1 billion, rather than a projection of VEPPANU-specific sales.
Management did not provide near-term sales guidance for VEPPANU. Rodriguez said Rigel will report third-quarter sales results in November, reflecting a shortened launch period, and expects to provide additional information on the product’s trajectory after it has accumulated more commercial experience.
Trial data and pipeline progress
Chief Medical Officer Alison Hannah reviewed data from the Phase III VERITAC-2 study that supported VEPPANU’s approval. Among patients with ESR1 mutations, median progression-free survival was 5.0 months for vepdegestrant, compared with 2.1 months for fulvestrant. The reported hazard ratio was 0.57, with a statistically significant p-value of less than 0.001.
The clinical benefit rate was 42% with vepdegestrant and 20% with fulvestrant, while objective response rates were 18.6% and 4%, respectively. Grade 3 or higher treatment-emergent adverse events occurred in 23% of vepdegestrant patients and 18% of fulvestrant patients. Rigel said 3% of vepdegestrant patients discontinued treatment because of adverse events and 2% required dose reductions.
Rigel is also advancing R289, an oral prodrug of a dual IRAK1 and IRAK4 inhibitor, for lower-risk myelodysplastic syndrome, or MDS. The company is enrolling the dose-expansion portion of its Phase Ib study, which will compare 500 milligrams once daily with 500 milligrams twice daily in up to 40 transfusion-dependent, relapsed or refractory lower-risk MDS patients.
Rigel expects to complete dose-expansion enrollment, select a recommended Phase II dose and report top-line data by year-end. In earlier dose-escalation data presented at the 2025 American Society of Hematology meeting, six of 18 evaluable patients receiving 500 milligrams daily or higher achieved red blood cell transfusion independence lasting at least eight weeks.
Profitability and licensing costs
Second-quarter costs and expenses totaled $55.1 million, compared with $40.6 million a year earlier. Rigel attributed the increase primarily to R289 clinical activity, development work under its license agreement with Arvinas and Pfizer, higher product costs and personnel expenses.
Net income declined from $59.6 million in the second quarter of 2025. Schorno noted that the prior-year result included $40 million of non-cash revenue related to Rigel’s collaboration agreement with Lilly.
Cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments were $95.3 million at quarter-end, down from $155 million at the end of 2025. Rigel paid a $70 million upfront fee upon closing the VEPPANU transaction and may owe an additional $15 million upon successful transition activities. The agreement also includes up to $320 million in potential regulatory and commercial milestone payments, tiered royalties ranging from the mid-teens to mid-20s on cumulative net sales, and up to $40 million of Rigel support for ongoing development activities over four years.
About Rigel Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:RIGL)
Rigel Pharmaceuticals, Inc is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company headquartered in South San Francisco, California. Founded in 2003, Rigel focuses on the discovery, development and commercialization of novel small molecule therapeutics targeting immune, hematologic and oncologic diseases. Leveraging a proprietary chemistry platform and expertise in signal transduction pathways, the company aims to address significant unmet medical needs in both rare and common disorders.
Rigel’s lead product, fostamatinib (commercially known as Tavalisse®), is an oral spleen tyrosine kinase (SYK) inhibitor approved in the United States for the treatment of adult patients with chronic immune thrombocytopenia (ITP).
