Can Yutrepia's Strong Growth Drive Liquidia's PAH Expansion?

Liquidia Corporation’s LQDA lead drug, Yutrepia, has delivered a strong commercial performance since its launch, generating approximately $300.3 million in sales during the first half of 2026.

Launched in June 2025, Yutrepia received FDA approval in May 2025 for the treatment of both pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) and pulmonary hypertension associated with interstitial lung disease (PH-ILD).

The drug is an inhaled dry-powder version of treprostinil made with the company’s proprietary PRINT technology, designed to deliver medicine deeper into the lungs through an easy-to-use inhaler and allow higher doses than other inhaled treprostinil treatments.

Commercial uptake has remained robust. As of July 31, 2026, Liquidia had received approximately 5,900 unique prescriptions since launch and initiated more than 5,000 patients on Yutrepia therapy.

Physician adoption has also continued to expand. More than 1,100 physicians had prescribed Yutrepia as of July 31, with more than 30% having written prescriptions for at least five patients. Importantly, the prescription-to-start conversion rate remained above 85%, indicating strong conversion from prescriptions to actual patient treatment.

Strong Yutrepia sales have been a key contributor to Liquidia’s fourth consecutive profitable quarter, highlighting the drug’s growing commercial importance to the company.

Yutrepia’s sustained market uptake is encouraging and strengthens Liquidia’s position in the PAH and PH-ILD markets. The drug appears to be gaining market share while also contributing to expansion of the overall inhaled prostacyclin segment.

Management noted that the inhaled market grew from $573 million in the first quarter to $607 million in the second quarter, representing approximately 6% sequential growth. Yutrepia was approaching a 30% share of inhaled-market net revenues during the second quarter.

Management remains highly optimistic about Yutrepia’s growth trajectory and, on the second-quarter earnings call, expressed confidence in generating more than $1 billion in net revenues in 2027.

While Yutrepia’s proprietary PRINT technology, strong launch trajectory and increasing physician adoption provide a solid foundation for further growth, sustaining this momentum will depend on Liquidia’s ability to execute effectively, differentiate Yutrepia from established therapies and continue capturing market share in an increasingly competitive PAH treatment landscape.

LQDA Faces Competition in PAH Market

Yutrepia competes in the PAH market against several approved inhaled prostacyclin therapies, while additional pipeline candidates could intensify competition in the coming years. Its primary competitor is United Therapeutics' UTHR Tyvaso (treprostinil), the long-established inhaled therapy approved for PAH in 2009 and PH-ILD in 2021.

United Therapeutics also markets Tyvaso DPI, a dry-powder version of treprostinil approved in 2022 for both indications. Demand for this product has been strong.

United Therapeutics is further expanding its PAH franchise. The company highlighted two major regulatory filings — ralinepag tablets for PAH and nebulized Tyvaso for IPF — as potentially significant catalysts for long-term growth. Additional planned filings for ralinepag DPI and treprostinil SMI could further expand UTHR’s pipeline and growth opportunities.

The acquisition of Actelion strengthened pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson’s JNJ position in the PAH market.

Yutrepia also competes with Ventavis (iloprost), marketed by JNJ’s Actelion unit, which has been approved for PAH since 2004.

JNJ’s Uptravi (selexipag) is also approved to treat PAH. Johnson & Johnson has another PAH drug, Opsumit, in its portfolio.

LQDA’s Share Price Performance, Valuation & Estimates

Shares of LQDA have surged 115.5% year to date compared with the industry’s growth of  5.7%.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Going by the price/sales ratio, LQDA shares currently trade at 6.87X forward sales, higher than the industry’s average of 1.94X but lower than its mean of 14.68X.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2026 earnings per share has moved south to $2.57 from $2.97 and that for 2027 EPS has declined to $4.38 from $4.81 in the past 60 days.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

LQDA currently has a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).

You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

 

Zacks' Research Chief Names "Stock Most Likely to Double"

Our team of experts has just released the 5 stocks with the greatest probability of gaining +100% or more in the coming months. Of those 5, Director of Research Sheraz Mian highlights the one stock set to climb highest.

This top pick is a little-known satellite-based communications firm. Space is projected to become a trillion dollar industry, and this company's customer base is growing fast. Analysts have forecasted a major revenue breakout in 2025. Of course, all our elite picks aren't winners but this one could far surpass earlier Zacks' Stocks Set to Double like Hims & Hers Health, which shot up +209%.

Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report

This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

Zacks Investment Research