By Amira McKee
Shares of United Therapeutics climbed after the company said it planned to release a new soft mist inhaler to treat certain lung diseases next year.
The stock rose 9%, to $515.94, midday Wednesday and have gained 44% in the past year.
Chief Executive Martine Rothblatt said Wednesday that the biotechnology company was developing a soft-mist inhaler designed to alleviate the side effect of coughing from traditional dry-powder inhalers.
United Therapeutics intends to file to have the formulation approved to treat pulmonary arterial hypertension and interstitial lung disease and plans to commercially launch the product in 2027.
Though the Silver Spring, Md., company offered few insights into the program, the new formulation and the short release timeline could give United Therapeutics an edge against its competition in the dry-powder-inhalation space, analysts at Cantor said in a research note.
United Therapeutics reported a fourth-quarter net income of $364.3 million, or $7.70 a share, compared with $301.3 million, or $6.19 a share, a year earlier.
The results beat Wall Street's forecast for a net income of $318.7 million, according to FactSet.
Revenue grew 7.4%, to $790.2 million, missing the $811.4 million that analysts polled by FactSet had anticipated.
Revenue from Tyvaso, a treatment for pulmonary arterial hypertension that makes up most of the company's top-line, grew 12%, to $464.3 million.
The breathable-powder form of the drug brought $63.5 million more in revenue this quarter, largely due to a higher number of patients, the company said.
Write to Amira McKee at amira.mckee@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
February 25, 2026 13:25 ET (18:25 GMT)
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