Note QLT's response...
October 4, 2000
Personalized E-Mail
QLT Inc., Analysts Don't Always See Eye
To Eye: Co
By ANDY GEORGIADES
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
TORONTO -- QLT Inc. (QLTI) said it doesn't see eye-to-eye with
analysts at Leerink Swann & Co., who downgraded the stock Wednesday
after their poll showed a sharp decrease in potential Visudyne patients.
As reported, Robert Uhl and Navroze Alphonse of Leerink Swann said
their third poll of 40 retina specialists showed about 17% of patients are
Visudyne candidates, compared to prior results of about 27%.
Although the analysts remain positive for QLT's third and fourth quarters,
it's the years beyond that concern them.
In light of the poll, Uhl and Alphonse lowered their end-user Visudyne
revenue projections to $96 million, $206 million, $287 million, and $353
million in 2000-2003, respectively, from $108 million, $309 million, $458
million and $563 million.
Elayne Wandler, vice-president of corporate communications for QLT,
said the company's long-term confidence in Visudyne is intact.
Wandler told Dow Jones sales are strong, and the company's objective to
make Visudyne a $600 million product by 2004 hasn't changed.
"It's enormous. It's a treatment for an unmet need. It's helping a lot of
people. I think some people might have lost their perspective on this," she
said, adding the market overreacted to the downgrade.
Visudyne is the only treatment available for age-related macular
degeneration, a cause of blindness. It's been approved in 25 countries,
including the U.S. and Canada.
As for competing products, Wandler said QLT is at least two years ahead
of anyone else, an "incredible lead to have with a pharmaceutical."
In addition, QLT has saturated the market with lasers that can only be
used with Visudyne, she said.
"So it would have to be a much superior drug for physicians to switch and
buy another piece of equipment to use (a different) product," Wandler
said.
Any reimbursement issues, which came up last July, have also been cleared
up, she noted.
"Things are moving along and it's shaping to be the product we expected,"
she said. |
