Speaker #1: Investor section of our website at almirall.com. Please move to slide number 2. Let me remind you that the information presented in this call contains forward-looking statements, which involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors that may cause actual results to materially differ from what we are sharing today.
Speaker #1: Please move to slide 3. Presented today are Carlos Gallardo, chairman and chief executive officer; Jon Garay, chief financial officer; and Karl Ziegelbauer, chief scientific officer.
Speaker #1: Carlos will start with the business highlights for the first 9 months of 2026, followed by an update on biologics and the key growth drivers of our medical dermatology portfolio.
Speaker #1: Karl will then provide an update on the pipeline and R&D programs. Jon will walk you through the financial review before Carlos concludes the presentation and we open the call for questions.
Speaker #1: I will now hand over to Carlos Gallardo, our chairman and CEO. Please move to slide number 5.
Speaker #2: Thank you, Pablo, and good morning, everyone. Almirall's performance has built progressively since the start of 2026, delivering a steady 9-month result. In line with the trajectory set out at the beginning of the year.
Speaker #2: Net sales for the 9-month reached 889 million, representing growth of 8.3 year on year, with European dermatology continuing to act as the primary growth engine.
Speaker #2: This momentum is expected to continue into the 4th quarter. Under guidance for the year, Jon will provide some color in a short while. Turning to products, Illumetri is still delivering a healthy and continued double-digit growth.
Speaker #2: Epgliss growth keeps supporting our long-term view of the product, with continued ramp-up across key European markets. With Thor and Cliciris are delivering growth in the mid to high teams, as expected.
Speaker #2: We remain closely connected to the dermatology community, strengthening our partnerships with physicians through our ongoing participation at key scientific platforms. A key highlight of this engagement was the 2026 EADB Congress, where results for the 80-long and 80-touch studies were presented as late-breaking data, adding to the growing evidence base supporting Epgliss.
Speaker #2: Turning to our pipeline, we are very proud of our medical dermatology pipeline comprising of 3 mid-stage assets across 6 development programs in 5 indications, as well as a few earlier stage assets.
Speaker #2: We think it is one of the strongest in our history, and a very meaningful for a company of Almirall size. We are particularly pleased with both the range of indications that it covers, as well as for the commercial potential these assets collectively represent.
Speaker #2: Some of these products have the potential to become the next reliable patient option for indications such as hidradenitis suppurativa or alopecia areata. In the coming months, we expect the first readout of the pipeline.
Speaker #2: The IL-2 for atopic dermatitis, and the rest will continue during 2027 and early 2028. Please move to the next slide for an update on our biologics portfolio.
Speaker #2: Third quarter sales of Illumetri, our biologic for psoriasis, represents the best quarter since the launch of the product, with over 65 million in sales, maintaining the product's steady double-digit growth trajectory.
Speaker #2: Net sales reached 191 million in Europe in the first 9 months of 2026. Illumetri continues to hold a solid position in the psoriasis market, with the leading anti-IL-23 class.
Speaker #2: Its profile is supported by real-world evidence, including the 2-year positive study data presented at the 2026 EADB October meeting, highlighting sustainable disease control and meaningful long-term patient benefits.
Speaker #2: We also see further opportunities to strengthen the evidence base. The evolved study in psoriasis will assess the 200 mg dose in biologic-naive patients diagnosed for less than 2 years.
Speaker #2: Performance remains consistent, with our long-term expectations, and we continue to be firmly on track to deliver more than 300 million in peak net sales.
Speaker #2: Please move to the next slide for the Epgliss highlights. Epgliss continued to scale across Europe and generated more than 132 million in net sales in the first 9 months of 2026.
Speaker #2: The results reflect continued healthy growth across the European franchise and our mid and long-term view remains unchanged. We expect the strong clinical profile of levetiracetam and continued expansion of the atopic dermatitis market to support sustained growth.
Speaker #2: On the clinical side, Almirall, together with Lilly, continued to strengthen Epgliss's positioning. On the 2026 EADB Congress in October, successful 5-year 80-long results and 80-touch data were presented as the late breakers, adding further evidence on the product's clinical profile and long-term value.
Speaker #2: As we mentioned in prior earnings calls, the Adorable One pediatric data and the pediatric submission was accepted by the EMA. The every 8-week maintenance regimen has been approved in the United States, while the 80 HOPE-2 study in Europe can potentially support an extension of the dosing interval to every 12 weeks.
Speaker #2: I will now hand over to Karl to walk you through our pipeline developments in more detail.
Speaker #3: Thank you, Carlos, and good morning, everyone on the call. Our early and mid-stage pipeline offers multiple opportunities for future value creation. 4 proof-of-concept or phase 2 studies are ongoing, and 2 additional studies are planned to start towards year end.
Speaker #3: The phase 2 study for our anti-IL-1 rep antibody in hidradenitis suppurativa is ongoing. Likewise, the phase 2 for IL-2 mutant FC in alopecia areata.
Speaker #3: Our partner, Simcea, is also running a phase 2 study of IL-2 mutant FC in atopic dermatitis. In addition, a proof-of-concept study of our anti-IL-21 antibody in hidradenitis suppurativa is running currently.
Speaker #3: Next, we plan to advance IL-2 mutant FC into SLE with spontaneous manifestation and our anti-IL-1 rep antibody into pure derma cancerosum, a rare painful neutrophilic disease with high unmet need, with a potential role for IL-1 pathway dysregulation.
Speaker #3: Together, these programs provide 6 proof-of-concept or phase 2 studies, with readout expected to begin this quarter and continue over the next years. While still early, they are grounded in defined biology and offer a diversified set of potentials.
Speaker #3: First, our best-in-class opportunity. Next slide, please. Alongside clinical execution, we are building the next wave of innovation in medical dermatology. We focus our internal capability on therapeutic hypothesis generation while partnering selectively for differentiated technologies and modalities to explore those.
Speaker #3: Our new collaboration with Crystal O is a good example for this strategy and shows that we make progress with our activities in China. It combines Crystal O iron channel and small molecule discovery expertise with Almirall's development and commercial capability to pursue novel therapies in medical dermatology.
Speaker #3: This collaboration gives us access to novel technology while enabling Almirall to lead future global development and commercialization outside China. This strengthens our early pipeline and creates additional portfolio opportunity within our core dermatology focus.
Speaker #3: Next slide, please. We continue to invest selectively behind our marketed products through label expansion and additional clinical evidence. For Tier 1, the European regulatory process for the larger 100 cm2 treatment is ongoing, with approval expected in the coming weeks.
Speaker #3: With Eli Lilly, we continue to pursue label expansion and generate additional evidence for Epgliss. We have filed with EMA to extend the levetiracetam label to children aged 6 months to 70 years, who weigh below 40 kg, and have moderate to severe atopic dermatitis.
Speaker #3: Approval is expected in the second half of 2027. We're also conducting a phase 3 study of levetiracetam in luminal eczema, with a readout expected in 2029.
Speaker #3: Let me now highlight recent clinical results. Next slide. At the EADB 2026, Almirall presented late-breaking data from the Almirall-sponsored at-long study. Evaluating durability of response and long-term disease control with continuous levetiracetam treatment in moderate to severe atopic dermatitis.
Speaker #3: At-long is a 2-year extension of parent studies already running for 3 years, allowing to explore long-term disease control for up to 5 years. Clinical benefit was sustained through week 108, at that time point 93% of patients achieved easy 75, and 67% achieved clear or almost clear skin based on IgA 0 or 1.
Speaker #3: In addition, 78% achieved a pruritus NRS score of 4 or below. The safety profile remained consistent with previous studies, with no new safety signal.
Speaker #3: These results reinforce the potential of levetiracetam as a long-term treatment option for sustained disease control, with now patients being well controlled for up to 5 years.
Speaker #3: Next slide, please. Levetiracetam not only provides long-term control of atopic dermatitis but also provides effective control in difficult-to-treat or high-impact areas. One such area is hand and foot, and our partner, Eli Lilly, presented at AADB 2026 positive results from the AD-Touch study.
Speaker #3: AD-Touch is a phase 3 study of levetiracetam in moderate to severe hand and foot atopic dermatitis. AD-Touch met his primary endpoint, 53% of levetiracetam-treated patients achieved clear or almost clear skin on the hands and feet at week 16, compared with 70% on placebo.
Speaker #3: Benefits were observed early, with significant skin clearance improvements from week 4, and each reduction from week 2. Patients also reported improvements in hand and foot pain.
Speaker #3: To broaden the clinical evidence base for these difficult-to-treat areas, Almirall restarted dedicated phase 3B study to explore the efficiency and safety of levetiracetam in adult and adolescents participants with moderate to severe face and neck atopic dermatitis.
Speaker #3: In summary, those recently presented clinical data support the best-in-disease profile of levetiracetam. With that, I'll hand over to Jon for the financial review.
Speaker #2: Thank you, Karl, for the pipeline update. And good morning, everyone. Net sales for the first 9 months of 2026 reached 889 million euros, representing an 8.3% year-on-year growth.
Speaker #2: Third quarter net sales were 286.5 million euros, an increase of 10.1% compared to the same period prior year. European dermatology keeps delivering solid double-digit growth, 17.6% year-to-date, reinforcing Almirall's path towards leadership in medical dermatology.
Speaker #2: EBITDA for the first 9 months reached 222 million euros, corresponding to a margin of around 25% of net sales, 2 years ahead of our 2028 ambition.
Speaker #2: It reflects continued operating leverage and keep us on track to deliver within our full year 2026 EBITDA guidance range. Gross margin was around 65% for the 9-month period.
Speaker #2: This includes the benefit from active yield divestment and some positive sales mix effects, partially offset by minor effect of higher royalty tiers. R&D investment was 107 million euros for the first 9 months, representing 12% of net sales.
Speaker #2: Discipline ACNA approach allowed net sales to continue growing faster than our expense base. We closed the third quarter with a net cash to EBITDA ratio of around 0.2, with a strong cash generation in Q3, leaving us with significant financial flexibility.
Speaker #2: At this point, we reiterate our full year 2026 guidance with net sales growth in the range of 9% to 12% and EBITDA range of 270 million euros to 290 million euros.
Speaker #2: Based on our performance year-to-date and regarding the net sales line, we expect to finalize the full year towards the mid to low end of the range of our guidance.
Speaker #2: On the other hand, EBITDA points toward the upper range of the guidance, as we are benefiting from both the operating leverage and a disciplined management of our ACNA.
Speaker #2: Next slide, please. The third quarter continued the positive sales trend in medical dermatology. European dermatology remained the primary growth engine, supported by illumetria and EBLIS.
Speaker #2: The non-dermal legacy portfolio declined slightly, as some markets experienced certain competition in a mature environment. The lower sales in certain products, as Eclira or Crestor, were partially compensated by positive contributions from products such as Actal or Almax.
Speaker #2: In the United States, performance declined year-on-year, reflecting continued pressure on the legacy portfolio. In the rest of the world, overall sales grew strongly, driven by solid dermatology demand.
Speaker #2: Let me take you through now dermatology performance in more detail on the next slide. Our European dermatology business continued to deliver strong growth through the first 9 months.
Speaker #2: Illumetria reached 191 million euros, delivering a robust 11.5% year-on-year growth. In fact, Illumetria delivered its best-ever quarter with 65 million euros sales and growth of circa 14% versus prior year quarter.
Speaker #2: EBLIS reached 132 million euros, growing 75% versus prior year. Together, these 2 biologics remained the principal drivers of the portfolio. WinZora continued to build market share across core European countries, with 29 million euros sales in the 9-month period, growing by 15%, while ClyCity reached 18 million euros, with growth of around 22%.
Speaker #2: In the United States, overall performance declined, including a more competitive environment for Cisara, with ClyCity accelerating its performance after access expansion agreement with Kermar earlier this year.
Speaker #2: Dollar-euro effects evolution represented a negative impact of 6 percentage points in our performance year-to-date. In the rest of the world, dermatology sales were primarily supported by purchase patterns of our partners and solid demand for Finjube in Asia.
Speaker #2: Overall, our dermatology franchise continues to show solid underlying performance. Next slide, please. Let's briefly review the remaining elements of the P&L. For the first 9 months, gross profit was 576 million euros, representing a 65% over net sales.
Speaker #2: The margin reflects a positive contribution from active yield divestment, favorable sales mix, and good management of our manufacturing costs, partially offset by Illumetria royalties.
Speaker #2: R&D was 107 million euros at 12% of net sales. The quarterly evolution reflects the progress in our early development and lifecycle management programs. While still below, our 12.5 ambition for the year, we expect higher level of expending next quarter.
Speaker #2: ACNA, excluding depreciation and amortization, was 366 million euros for the first 9 months. The disciplined approach to our expenses, supported continued operating leverage, with net sales growing faster than ACNA as guidance in February.
Speaker #2: EBITDA reached 222 million euros, representing a margin of 25% over net sales, 2 years ahead of our 2028 ambition. Financial expenses include the valuation impact of the equity swap linked to the share price and the usual financing cost of the business.
Speaker #2: Please move to next slide. Our balance sheet remained stable through the first 9 months of the year. Intangible assets reflect capitalized EBLIS R&D, development milestone to Sincere for advancing the ILQ mutant fusion protein into phase 2, HUAOTA collaboration access fee, recent Cristalo agreement, as well as other minor collaborations, which were all outweighted by higher amortization.
Speaker #2: Our net cash to EBITDA ratio stood at around 0.2, continuing to provide us with a strong financial flexibility to pursue licensing opportunities and selective Bolton acquisitions.
Speaker #2: Finally, as a testimony to our prudent leverage and cash management, Moody's upgraded our credit rating to BA1 from BA2 in June. Let's now turn to the cash flow statement.
Speaker #2: We generated 61 million euros cash in the first 9 months of 2026, compared to a reduction of -1 million euro in the same period last year, driven by operational leverage in our P&L, disciplined working capital management, and higher share dividend.
Speaker #2: Free cash flow reached 83 million euros, compared to 42 million euros in the prior period. Cash flow from operating activities reached 203 million euros, representing a 39% improvement versus same period last year, driven by working capital management and higher profitability.
Speaker #2: Cash flow from investing activities, primarily reflects the 2025 Illumetria sales milestone paid in the first quarter of 2026, largest milestone payment expected this year.
Speaker #2: Remaining investment-related payments have been limited year-to-date and are expected to remain modest, keeping total cash outflows within normal limits excluding any potential new acquisition.
Speaker #2: Cash used in financing activities was lower year-on-year, mainly due to lower cash dividend payments, with more shareholders opting to receive shares. Overall, these results demonstrate the increasing financial strength of Almirall.
Speaker #2: We are delivering solid top-line growth while translating that growth into significantly stronger profitability and cash generation. Our operating leverage is becoming increasingly visible, with EBITDA growing well ahead of our sales and our margin already reaching 25%, while maintaining disciplined investment behind our future growth.
Speaker #2: At the same time, our strong balance sheet gives us flexibility to continue investing in our pipeline and pursue value-creating opportunities. With that, I would like to hand it over to Carlos for his closing remarks.
Speaker #3: Thank you, Jon. To summarize, the first 9 months of 2026 remain firmly on track. The progressive performance is in line with our expectations, and we remain confident in the 2026 outlook and in our ability to deliver our targets.
Speaker #3: Turning to the key growth drivers, our biologics portfolio continues to provide strong momentum in an expanding dermatology market. EBLIS continues to scale across Europe and remains a central driver of our growth, while Illumetria continues to deliver steady double-digit growth as it moves through a more mature phase of its growth cycle.
Speaker #3: Both assets have losses of exclusivity dates beyond 2033. Moreover, we continue to generate lifecycle management and real-world data that further strengthen the clinical profile and long-term value of both products.
Speaker #3: In parallel, our growing pipeline now expands into mediated skin diseases, rare dermatology, and non-melanoma skin cancer, with 6 proof-of-concepts of phase 2 programs moving forward.
Speaker #3: Most of these assets are first-in-class or potentially best-in-class profiles and some target large markets. In the coming months, we expect the first readout of the pipeline, the ILQ for atopic dermatitis, and the rest will continue during 2027 and early 2028.
Speaker #3: Assuming successful progress, this could provide us with a diversified base of opportunities for sustainable growth well into the next decade. Finally, we remain disciplined but active on capital deployment.
Speaker #3: Our strong financial position supports selective Bolton M&A and early-stage licensing opportunities that fit our medical dermatology strategy. Together, our well-positioned portfolio, the depth of our targeted pipeline, our financial discipline, and our continued execution give us confidence as we advance Almirall's leadership in medical dermatology.
Speaker #3: Back to you, Pablo.
Speaker #1: Thank you, Carlos. Sandra, back to you for the Q&A, please.
Speaker #4: Thank you. As a reminder, to ask a question, you will need to press star 1 and 1 on your telephone, or if you have joined via device audio, click the raise-hand button and wait for your name to be announced.
Speaker #4: To whisper your question, please press star 1 and 1 again, or click the lower-hand button. We will now take our first question. From the line of Kirsty Ross-Stewart from BNP Paribas, please go ahead.
Speaker #5: Hi there, good morning. Thanks for taking my questions. just a couple on EBLIS, if that's all right. So, just on full-year expectations, can you let us know your level of comfort with the current, expectations for around 190, 195 million?
Speaker #5: and is comfortable kind of where you see the source of further acceleration in Q4 coming from? And then just looking forward into 2027, I was wondering if you could provide any more details on the potential impact of the German rebate reform coming in, in January.
Speaker #5: Have you been able to get any clarity on your eligibility for exemptions? and if not, are you able to give us a kind of approximate range of, of the potential impact, on top-line growth in 2027?
Speaker #5: Thanks very much.
Speaker #2: Thanks, Kirsty. We remain in very, very optimistic about the mid and long-term opportunity for, for EBLIS. The, the robustness of the profile that keeps being enriched with the new data that we are generating and we saw recently at the ADB, the, the AD long data, the AD touch, but we're also generating additional data, that this is translating into dynamic market share growth within a market that continues to grow very healthily.
Speaker #2: So we are very confident about the mid and long-term outlook of EBLIS, and we are happy to reiterate our pixels estimate of more than 450 million.
Speaker #2: In terms of your second question about 2027 details, I, it's too early to provide, guidance for 2027. And, we will provide more guidance on, on the February call.
Speaker #2: In terms of your comments about the, the healthcare reform that was passed in Germany in, in July, as, as you mentioned, there are a number of ongoing discussions, to negotiate deductions and exclusions from this rebate.
Speaker #2: there's still a lot of uncertainty about how this will land. We are monitoring the reform closely, as you can imagine. We, we think that we will, qualify for a number of these deductions, but as, as of today it's very, very difficult to, to see, you know, which is going to be the, the impact of this on Almirall.
Speaker #2: Some of the market estimates, estimate an impact. Reform in the range of between 1% and 2.5% of our revenue in 2027 and going forward.
Speaker #2: And as of today, probably this is the, the best estimate range.
Speaker #5: Sorry, can I just clarify on my first question, just, on the 2026 expectations for EBLIS? I think you mentioned 190 million at Q2. I'm just wondering if you can comment on that.
Speaker #2: We, we are very confident on the long, on the pixels estimate that we provided, and that's what we are reiterating today.
Speaker #5: Okay, understood. Thank you.
Speaker #2: Thank you.
Speaker #4: Thank you. We will now take the next question. From the line of Shan Hama from Jefferies, please go ahead.
Speaker #6: Hi there. Thank you for taking my questions. just two from me. given that you've consistently been around 25% EBITDA margin now, which is in line with your 2028 goal, how should we think about this going forward?
Speaker #6: I mean, assuming there'll be some quarter-on-quarter volatility, but what can we expect for 2027 and 2028 with the, the balance of sales growth and then also, OPEX increase potentially?
Speaker #6: and then my second question is, I mean, it would be great to hear about the rationale for IL1 wrapping PG. what drives conviction in this indication, and then how does that compare with the potential opportunity in HS?
Speaker #6: Thank you.
Speaker #2: Thank you, Shan, for the question. So, well related, that we have reached this 25% EBITDA range, ahead of, of what we initially thought a number of years ago.
Speaker #2: Thanks to the operational leverage that we have been able to, to demonstrate. Going forward, again, we're very cautious about saying anything about 2027, and we'll provide more color in the future.
Speaker #2: But as you can imagine, this will largely depend on, on the POC results. And, and the investment decisions that we decide to make on, on these assets going forward, always focusing on long-term value maximization.
Speaker #2: On your comment on the IL1 wrapping PG, that's, one more POC that we have started. We're very excited, and I will let Karl comment on the rationale.
Speaker #3: Yes. thank you, Shan, for the question. So, PG is a, a neutrophilic skin disease, characterized by painful necrotic ulceration where there is still, a very high unmet medical need as there are no approved targeted therapies.
Speaker #3: It's more a, a kind of a rare disease with, a prevalence of 1 in, in 7,000 adults, and there is, evidence that, the, IL1 but also the IL36 is involved in the pathophysiology, and with our proof of context study, we want to further explore, this hypothesis of inhibition of, the IL1, the IL36, but also the IL33, this combination that we target with our anti-IL1 ramp antibody, whether this provides, benefit in this high, unmet medical need indication.
Speaker #3: With respect to your question about the, the opportunity, versus, HS hidradenitis suppurativa, this is too early to comment, as we're just starting to generate some initial data, and we will update you as we go along.
Speaker #4: Thank you. Thank you. We will now take the next question from the line of Guilherme Sampaio from CaixaBank. Please go ahead. Guilherme Sampaio, CaixaBank, please go ahead.
Speaker #7: Hello? hello. Thank you for taking my question. so, I'm sorry to insist on EBLIS. Your midterm comments were as reassuring as before, but over the short term, you used to be a bit more reassuring than you were today.
Speaker #7: So is there anything that we should bear in mind regarding shorter term, EBLIS performance? that should lead us to think that it could deviate from, from, from the performance this quarter, especially, specifically on Q4?
Speaker #7: and second, regarding M&A, you've been, actively talking about this, this topic. Is there anything on the radar at the moment? Thank you.
Speaker #2: Thanks, Guilherme, for the question. I, I like your insistence on the topic. but I, I said what I said before. and maybe add that at the beginning of the year, we were, expecting progressive performance, on the overall portfolio.
Speaker #2: That's what we're seeing. So we are confident on the outlook that we have provided. M&A, M&A, licensing, so business development in general remains a fundamental part of our strategy, and when we have something to announce, we will share it with, with the market.
Speaker #3: Maybe I can add, you, you have seen, that, we are very active in the early stage. Yeah, with, the, collaborations, for example, on Crystal O, Sir Tester, also Quota.
Speaker #3: Yeah, and, and this is based on, on our strategy that we focus our in-house activity of general novel therapeutic hypothesis for skin diseases where there is still a high unmet medical need and where it's a clear mechanistic rationale how to address this.
Speaker #3: Yeah, and then once we have established that we look for the, for the best partner, and, who has then the modality and the technology to address this, this, this therapeutic hypothesis in the best possible way.
Speaker #3: And those are then different companies, both in Europe but also, as we have seen, we're making quite a lot of progress with our activities in China, which is for us a, a good opportunity to explore those, novel scientific hypothesis in a, in a cost-effective, quick way, with, some of these collaborations are not only covering the research days, but the partner will bring the molecules up to proof of concept for us than having the optionality, based on those results, to, to develop this globally.
Speaker #7: Okay, Karl. Thank you.
Speaker #4: Thank you. We will now take the next question. From the line of Jaime Escribano Mais from Banco Santander, please go ahead.
Speaker #6: Hi, good morning. So, a few questions from my side. So, so, in terms of top-line review, inometry, you said best quarter in history. if you can elaborate a little bit more, what, what's behind this very good performance?
Speaker #6: Also in rest of the world, which was, which was very high, how sustainable disease, and how should we think about this line going forward?
Speaker #6: on the other hand, Almirall Legacy, so all what is not derma, was down minus 4.6% in nine months. So if you can provide us some colorizing a little bit weak, but, but how, again, how, how a little bit of outlook for going forward.
Speaker #6: So this in terms of sales? Then I was positively surprised on the gross margin. Jon, you provided some, some hints, but again, what would be the outlook going forward?
Speaker #6: And then on free cash flow, which you almost doubled, the free cash flow versus, last year. So, maybe you can elaborate on, on some of the dynamics in terms of CapEx, working capital, and, and, and, and if this is going to keep, being so strong.
Speaker #6: Thank you very much.
Speaker #2: thank you, Jaime, for the question. So I will provide some color on the first two, and then Jon can, can add more comments maybe on the rest of the world as well.
Speaker #2: And on the legacy gross margin, free cash flow, right? But let me start with inometry. yes, very pleased with the, the, the growth of inometry.
Speaker #2: And why is that? Well, we keep generating real-world data. That supports, the great efficacy of this product and the dosing schedule that is extremely welcome by patients and physicians.
Speaker #2: And, slowly but surely, we keep establishing this product as, the ideal product for first-line maintenance and, and first-line treatment of moderate to, to severe patients.
Speaker #2: As you remember, also, we launched the 200 mg presentation a couple of years ago that this has contributed to what? To the, to the robustness of the profile of inometry, providing those flexibility.
Speaker #2: which is, again, highly welcomed by physicians. So I would say it's not one single factor. It's a combination of factors that together, while that the market continues to grow nicely, this is what is helping to, to propel the, the growth of, of inometry.
Speaker #2: And we expect that this will continue. In the coming months. Yes, the rest of the world also, is growing nicely. We, we established, last year a number of new partnerships with, with some of the products, and these are starting to kick in into the performance of, of, of rest of the world.
Speaker #2: And, and perhaps, Jon, you can add more color here on the other questions.
Speaker #3: Yeah, thanks a lot, Carlos. Yes, following Carlos's comment on the rest of the world, basically geographical expansion is part of our objectives, Jaime, in the next months.
Speaker #3: And in this case, what we see is the positive impact by the launch of Injube recently in, one of the jurisdictions in Asia. We are tracking it, closely.
Speaker #3: It is too early still for us to tell you how this can grow in the upcoming quarters. We are monitoring it closely. But you can see that rest of the world is already, 5% of our, company sales, and they are growing at the very healthy, mo-more than double-digit, rate.
Speaker #3: Okay? Now, if we go to your next topic, which was the legacy, portfolio performance, yes, we are observing this year perhaps a bit more competitive, environment and a bit more challenged than the one we were expecting at the beginning of the year.
Speaker #3: Not totally unexpected because we are in mind most of these products have been in the market for many years, so it's normal to see some ups and downs as the one we are seeing this.
Speaker #3: We are monitoring it closely, and perhaps we will see more stabilization, next year. Also, there is a component of phasing in the purchase patterns of our partners.
Speaker #3: we expect to see some moderation in the upcoming months, Jaime. Regarding your question on gross margin, yes, we, we have delivered a solid gross margin in Q3 in the range of 65%.
Speaker #3: The same disciplined approach we are implementing to our SG&A. We are also implementing it to our manufacturing cost, and we were a bit surprised about this positive income.
Speaker #3: it cannot be considered as a good proxy, for the upcoming quarters. I think in the upcoming quarters, perhaps something close to 64% in terms of product, margin can it be a better proxy than 65%.
Speaker #3: But overall, we, we remain confident on the disciplined approach to all the P&L lines we are implementing and very happy with the performance the teams are delivering.
Speaker #3: I think your last question was about the, the cash flow. Indeed, our free cash flow has multiplied by two in the first nine months of this year when we have been delivering 83 million euros compared to 42 million euros last year.
Speaker #3: Basically, there are, I would say three main components, driving this. Two are purely operational. One is the increase, profitability level using our P&L. That is a direct consequence of the operational leverage.
Speaker #3: We promise to deliver, and that it is taking place and is becoming increasingly visible in our, in our P&L. The second fault is working capital management.
Speaker #3: in the financial statements, we have made visible this morning. You can see a swing of minus 16 million euros to plus 22 million euros in terms of capital management, very driven by disciplined inventory management without compromising anything at, at the business.
Speaker #3: But we are putting a big focus on the inventory levels we have and also management of our accounts payables and accounts receivables. So very happy for the performance the company is doing, on that area.
Speaker #3: Of course, if you expect this to continue being, repetitive in the upcoming years, we need to be modest. Working capital, you come to a certain level, and then you try to maintain it.
Speaker #3: It's, it's not equally repetitive in upcoming years. But, so far, very happy and, great recognition for the job the team is doing in, in Almira.
Speaker #3: Have we replied to your questions, Jaime? There were many of them.
Speaker #4: Yes. Thank you.
Speaker #3: Thank you very much.
Speaker #4: Thank you. We will now take the next question. From the line of Pablo RenterĂa from Q4, please go ahead.
Speaker #3: Yeah, good morning, and thanks for, for taking my questions. Most of them have been already answered, but just, one quick follow-up on Germany, please.
Speaker #3: So you mentioned a potential 1 to 2.5% impact on group sales in your base case. Given that this is essentially a price-driven impact, should we assume that most of it will flow through to a VTA, or are there any mitigating factors we could consider when assessing the, the margin impact?
Speaker #3: Thank you.
Speaker #2: Pablo, thank you for the question. Jon will, will take the answer, but as I mentioned before, also take into account that there's still, a lot of uncertainty about the impact of these reforms and, of course, we are monitoring it very closely, and we will provide, an update once the negotiations conclude.
Speaker #2: Hopefully in the, in the next few weeks. But Jon, do you want to comment on, on Pablo's question?
Speaker #3: Yes, thank you very much, Carlos, and thanks, Pablo, for your question. At the moment, it's, it is a bit too early to, to discuss the potential impact and to discuss the potential, alternative measures we will be able to implement because the negotiations and the discussions, they are still ongoing.
Speaker #3: In any case, Pablo, what I would like to remark is that hopefully everybody is able to see that we are being quite proactive with a disciplined, management of our expenses across all the P&L lines, and you can already see the acceleration of the operational leverage, and hence the guidance we have provided this morning that the bid that we'll be finalizing in the upper range.
Speaker #3: Over around 290 million euros that we have provided. So we will monitor it more closely, and, when we have a clear view, we will be able to provide you more transparency.
Speaker #1: Thank you.
Speaker #4: Thank you. There are no more questions at this time. I would like to hand back over to Pablo Divasson for closing remarks.
Speaker #5: Thank you very much, Sandra. And if there are no further questions, ladies and gentlemen, this concludes our today's conference call. Thank you for your participation.
