Stevanato GLP 1 revenue expected to fall in 2027 with one customer behind the drop

Italian drug container maker Stevanato Group has warned that its business with GLP 1 medicines will shrink next year. Stevanato GLP 1 revenue fell in the third quarter of 2026, and the company now expects lower volumes and sales from the drug class in 2027 than it had planned, a gap it links to one customer it did not name. Group revenue still rose 8% to €326.1 million, carried by other biologics, and the company kept its 2026 guidance.

Stevanato third quarter results in numbers

The Stevanato third quarter results, released on 3 November from the company base in Piombino Dese near Padua, show a group that is still growing. Revenue rose 8% on both a reported and an organic basis. The Biopharmaceutical and Diagnostic Solutions unit, which sells vials, syringes, cartridges and devices, grew 11% organically and made up for a 12% fall in the Engineering unit, which builds inspection and assembly machines. Net profit rose 16% to €41.8 million, according to the quarterly results release. GLP 1 therapies accounted for about 17% to 18% of group revenue in the quarter. The company held its 2026 forecast of €1.260 billion to €1.280 billion in revenue, which is a target and not a result.

Injectable GLP 1 drugs such as semaglutide and tirzepatide reach patients in pens and prefilled syringes, so the makers of glass containers share in their growth. Stevanato GLP 1 revenue today comes mostly from commercial products of the main originator companies, the group said. Its sales from the class grew by more than half in 2025 compared with 2024, according to Pharma Manufacturing. In the second and third quarters of 2026 the company booked what it calls variable compensation, linked to lower volumes and mostly to GLP 1 products. Chief financial officer Marco Dal Lago told analysts that its contracts can include take or pay terms, minimum quantities and capacity reservations. He said the 2026 payments related to volumes below binding forecasts, but declined to give an amount, citing customer confidentiality.

One syringe customer behind the 2027 warning

On the earnings call, chief executive Franco Stevanato said the group now expects lower GLP 1 volumes in 2027 than it had planned. Franco Stevanato confirmed on the call that the 2027 shortfall is tied to a single customer, which the company did not name. Answering a later question, he said the problem concerns syringes and is the only headwind the group faces at present. He told analysts the change "was not entirely unexpected" and that work to offset it began several months ago. One step was to shift some capacity between regions to serve rising orders from other clients. The company said it is still working through binding forecasts with customers for next year, so the size of the drop in Stevanato GLP 1 revenue is not yet public.

Franco Stevanato confirmed on the call that the 2027 shortfall is tied to a single customer, which the company did not name.

Investors reacted sharply. The New York listed shares were down about 24% at $14.97 during trading on 3 November, Investing.com reported, close to the low end of their range over the past year. The quarter itself had beaten analyst revenue estimates, the same report said. Franco Stevanato said that, without the GLP 1 setback, the group would have grown in line with its long range plan of high single digit to low double digit growth in 2027. He now expects low single digit growth next year, "based on what we know today", and a return to more normal growth in 2028. These are company forecasts. The company has given no figure for how much revenue the single customer represents, and no 2027 guidance in numbers.

Non GLP 1 biologics fill the gap

Revenue from non GLP 1 biologics rose more than 30% in the third quarter and 13% over the first nine months, the company said. Management said it has already replaced most of the expected GLP 1 shortfall with other orders, although customer production plans for 2027 are not final. The chief executive expects steady demand from biologics and biosimilars next year and pointed to biosimilar pipelines in immunology, oncology and endocrinology. Within the GLP 1 class itself, Stevanato said it works with more than 30 customers worldwide on programmes still in clinical development. On the call he put the number of programmes above 50. He also said worldwide patient penetration of GLP 1 drugs is well below 10%, an estimate the company did not source.

The customer base for GLP 1 injections is widening outside the two originators. Copies of semaglutide are already sold in several markets, as our semaglutide patent expiry map shows, and each copy needs its own pen, cartridge or syringe. Indian drugmaker Dr Reddy's plans to restart its generic semaglutide pens this month, led by Canada, after a supply halt. Stevanato did not say whether any of its new GLP 1 customers are generic makers, and it named none of them. It said its Alina, Aidaptus and Deora injection devices are being evaluated for a range of biologics, mainly biosimilars, including GLP 1 and other metabolic drugs. The new programmes use its higher priced EZ-fill containers and devices, the company said.

Latina and Fishers plants carry the expansion

Much of the group's spending sits in two new plants. At Latina, south of Rome, commercial output of EZ-fill syringes is running smoothly while customer audits and validation continue, executives said. The site is being prepared for its next phase, which will make EZ-fill cartridges that arrive sterile and ready for filling. Capital spending reached €44.8 million in the quarter, mainly for the plants in Italy and Indiana and for device programmes in Germany. Stevanato ended September with €114.9 million in cash and net debt of €353.7 million, and generated free cash flow of €21.7 million in the quarter. The company said it has enough liquidity for its plans over at least the next twelve months, using cash, operating income and credit lines.

In Fishers, Indiana, the group says the plant reached break even at the gross profit level in the third quarter and recently shipped its first commercial order of EZ-fill vials. Marco Dal Lago said about half of the planned capacity is installed and the site should be fully ramped up at the end of 2028. Most of that capacity is for high value products, where he put gross margins at 40% to 70% depending on the item. A device cleanroom was finished in the quarter, and the company plans commercial device volumes within a couple of months. Over the next 18 months, Fishers and its German facilities will scale up contract device work and the Alina pen injector, according to the Pharma Manufacturing report.

Conclusion

Stevanato GLP 1 revenue will fall in 2027 because one syringe customer needs fewer units, the Italian group says, while other biologics keep its order books growing. The next markers are the binding customer forecasts now being settled, the fourth quarter results, and whether the company gives a 2027 figure. Readers should also watch whether the Fishers and Latina expansions fill with non GLP 1 work as planned, and whether new GLP 1 makers, including generic firms, turn clinical programmes into commercial orders.