Innoviva (NASDAQ:INVA) Chief Executive Officer Pavel Raifeld outlined the company’s evolving business mix, capital allocation priorities, and upcoming catalysts during a conference discussion hosted by Oppenheimer analyst Trevor Allred. Raifeld said Innoviva has moved beyond its origins as a royalty-focused company and now operates through three core components: a respiratory royalty stream, a growing specialty therapeutics commercial platform, and a portfolio of strategic healthcare investments.
Three-part structure: royalties, specialty therapeutics, and strategic assets
Raifeld said Innoviva was originally formed to manage royalty revenues from respiratory products developed with and licensed to GSK. Today, he described three primary business segments:
- Royalty business: Royalties from two GSK-marketed respiratory products, Breo and ANORO. Raifeld said the royalty portfolio generated $250 million in gross royalty revenue last year and has remained “durable and resilient,” outperforming expectations and analyst consensus.
- Innoviva Specialty Therapeutics (IST): A commercial-stage critical care infectious disease platform. Raifeld said IST delivered almost $120 million in U.S. sales last year and that the company expects at least $150 million this year. He also pointed to a “best quarter ever” with $34 million in U.S. sales, describing it as the third straight year of 50% annual growth.
- Strategic healthcare assets: A diversified set of investments that Raifeld said is currently valued at over $600 million, with recent momentum driven in part by clinical progress at Armata.
Capital allocation priorities heading into 2026
He also said Innoviva plans to continue supporting its strategic healthcare assets, including Armata, Syndeio, and a neuroscience investment, describing the portfolio’s upside potential as “asymmetric.” Externally, Raifeld said the company remains disciplined and patient but has flexibility to move quickly when opportunities fit its strategy.
On shareholder returns, he cited Innoviva’s recently announced $125 million share repurchase program as evidence of the company’s ongoing commitment and confidence in its growth outlook.
Armata: phage therapeutics progress and a Phase III plan
Raifeld highlighted Innoviva’s investment in Armata, calling it a market leader in bacteriophage therapeutics. He referenced Armata’s positive Phase II data in Staph aureus bacteremia, including a reported 100% clinical cure rate, and contrasted that with “best available treatments” in the “70%” success range and high mortality.
He said that, if validated in Phase III, the results could represent a major change for anti-infectives. While noting limits on commentary given Armata is an independent public company, Raifeld said Armata’s plan to initiate a Phase III study in the second half of this year is sensible and that Innoviva remains supportive.
IST commercial updates: ZEVTERA formulary work and NUZOLVENCE launch planning
Raifeld provided updates on two newer assets within IST. For ZEVTERA, he said Innoviva acquired U.S. commercial rights from Basilea about a year ago and began the U.S. launch in the third quarter of last year. He characterized hospital anti-infective launches as slow due to pharmacy and therapeutics (P&T) committee and formulary processes, noting ZEVTERA has only had two quarters of sales and remains in the “front half” of that process.
He said the company has seen good success to date and pointed to recent reimbursement-related milestones: ZEVTERA received J-code designation from CMS in the fourth quarter to support outpatient reimbursement and also received New Technology Add-on Payment status, increasing reimbursement to hospitals. Raifeld said Innoviva hopes to show a stronger revenue “launch trajectory” closer to the second half of the year.
Raifeld also discussed zoliflodacin, branded NUZOLVENCE, which he said was FDA approved in December for uncomplicated urogenital gonorrhea—one of the first new FDA-approved treatments for that indication in nearly two decades. Innoviva plans to commercialize NUZOLVENCE in the second half of this year and is evaluating whether to launch alone or with a partner. He said NUZOLVENCE differs from much of IST’s hospital-focused portfolio because it targets outpatient providers, and he described an initial commercialization approach focused on targeted promotion to specific patient populations while preparing to scale if resistance to current standards of care grows.
Product-level trends: GIAPREZA, XACDURO, XERAVA, and longer-term opportunity
While Raifeld said Innoviva does not generally provide product-level peak sales guidance, he outlined recent performance and drivers. He said GIAPREZA, approved for septic shock, delivered $72 million in 2025 U.S. net sales (about 34% growth year over year) and could “easily be an over $100 million product” in the near future, with sepsis guideline updates as a key item to watch.
For XACDURO, which he described as the only therapy indicated specifically for resistant Acinetobacter infections, Raifeld said it produced $33 million in 2025 U.S. net sales, representing over 100% year-over-year growth, and is still early in its growth curve. He also cited analyst expectations of $150 million to $200 million and said those numbers appear achievable.
Raifeld said XERAVA is more stable than a major growth driver, with expectations for steady, lower growth. For NUZOLVENCE, he said the overall commercial opportunity will depend on resistance trends and suggested the total addressable market could be as large as $500 million if resistance reaches anticipated levels.
Looking ahead, Raifeld pointed to multiple potential catalysts in 2026, including Armata’s expected Phase III start, a potential Phase II readout at Syndeio in major depressive disorder, further discussion of assets acquired from a company formerly known as Lyndra Therapeutics, and the first full year of ZEVTERA sales alongside the planned NUZOLVENCE launch.
About Innoviva (NASDAQ:INVA)
Innoviva, Inc, incorporated in Delaware and headquartered in San Francisco, California, is a royalty-focused life sciences company. It acquires, manages and monetizes royalty and license interests in biopharmaceutical products, with a primary emphasis on inhaled respiratory therapies. Innoviva’s portfolio is anchored by royalties on therapies originally developed by its former affiliate, now marketed by GlaxoSmithKline, including several long-acting inhaled products approved for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and asthma.
The company was established through a spin‐out transaction in 2014, separating the royalty assets from a research‐based biopharmaceutical enterprise to create a specialized investment vehicle.
