I was able to meet and talk with Peter Johnson and Donna Nichols of Agouron today at the NAIC Kansas City area Investors Fair. Agouron was one of the five sponsoring companies and Peter presented the Agouron story. Here are various points I personally thought noteworthy:
1. A minority of the HIV-infected population is actually receiving any of the AIDS-drugs. Apparently Agouron has potential to increase sales without having to "steal" patients from one of the other companies.
2. Another prominent HIV-patient, Greg Louganis, reportedly has had his doctor switch him to Viracept.
3. Peter explained that little Agouron could market effectively against the bigger players because a small percentage of the doctor population (approximately 3800 of them) write 85% of the PI prescriptions, allowing a sales force of 100-120 to be adequate in number.
4. Peter said that Agouron should see its first profitable quarter in 1998 and that the 1999 year should show significant profitability. I assume he was referring to fiscal years.
5. Initial orders for Viracept were 28,260 and 2,880 bottles of the tablets and powder form. Re-orders were 16,860 and 1,644. Since I didn't capture the time frames involved, these numbers may not be meaninful to anyone.
6. When asked if other companies also were using similar approaches to drug design, Peter acknowledged that they were, of course, but that Agouron had established a lead and would be taking steps in the coming year to insure that the lead was maintained. After the talk I asked Donna for amplification of that remark, but only got the general idea that additional alliances or agreements would be announced.
7. I asked Peter about the possibility of a stock split. He indicated that it was under consideration, but there was concern about "over-splitting" the stock and he mentioned a 4-1 split by Chiron which may have contributed to price weakness in their shares, post-split. When or if the volatility in Agouron's shares reduces somewhat, perhaps a split will be announced.
8. I passed a question up to the podium during Q&A about the possibility of another secondary offering, but that question wasn't addressed.
9. Peter said that in the near future additional laboratory work would begin on a rhinovirus 3C protease inhibitor.
10. The use of the phrase "an integrated pharmaceutical company" is a result of now having a product and an active sales force.
I feel that Agouron is to be commended for cultivating the individual investor, such as the 600-700 who attended today's event. I first learned of Agouron in Better Investing magazine (NAIC's monthly publication) and talked with one of their representatives a year ago at the Kansas City Investors Fair. In August of 96 I purchased my shares. Normally the CFO or Director of Investor Relations does the company presentation at these fairs. Having CEO Peter Johnson at today's session was a real treat for me. I read the posts on this thread every day, but seldom post. I hope some of the above is of interest to the rest of you.
Gary Richards |
