Tuck,
>> Haven't followed CORR closely recently, but have noticed tempting weakness for no apparent reason. <<
I haven't followed it as closely as I should recently, since I still have a little less than half my position (some of it acquired at split-adjusted 4 1/2 - 5, in the dip after FDA approval when sales didn't meet elevated expectations). I've been assuming that, without anything in near-term pipeline and only the large cash position to hold out promise, the market has been skeptical, wanting to be shown something more exciting than growing Integrilin sales. That, I think, explains its "failure to participate" in recent BT strength.
I still assume that the sales co-venture with Genentech's TNKase (sp?), which broadened Integrilin's sales representation to essentially all the cath labs and ER's, will continue to fatten sales, notwithstanding that Q3 sales were a bit weak (possibly as some surgeries whose timing was discretionary were put off after 9/11).
See also: biz.yahoo.com (I know you've seen it, Tuck, but I post it to preserve it against Yahoo's abandonment of the link):
Monday November 12, 5:02 pm Eastern Time
Press Release
SOURCE: COR Therapeutics, Inc.
Favorable Cost-Effectiveness Results Featured Among New Study Findings For INTEGRILIN-R--eptifibatide- Injection at American Heart Association Scientific Sessions
COR Therapeutics (Nasdaq:CORR - news) Announces Highlights of Over Twenty Presentations Featuring INTEGRILIN
ANAHEIM, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 12, 2001-- Results announced today at the 2001 Scientific Sessions of the American Heart Association showed that use of INTEGRILIN® is highly cost-effective at $1,407 per year of life saved in patients undergoing an intracoronary stent procedure. The cost-effectiveness profile for INTEGRILIN compares favorably to the cost of many commonly used cardiac medications and procedures, for example, the cost per year of life saved with aspirin for the primary prevention of heart attack is $4,000.
The cost-effectiveness of INTEGRILIN was evaluated as part of the long-term, follow-up phase of the ESPRIT study in 2,064 patients undergoing coronary stent procedures which demonstrated a maintenance of a statistically significant reduction in the combined incidence of death or heart attack at one year. The economic analysis demonstrated that because of its positive impact on reducing complications related to the heart procedure, use of INTEGRILIN increased costs by less than $300 per patient--significantly lower than the drug's acquisition cost ($495). At the end of the first year of follow-up, the net cost of INTEGRILIN to the health care system was only $146 because of further reductions in late complications.
``Since the completion of the ESPRIT trial and the release of the favorable long-term results, use of GP IIb-IIIa inhibitor therapy has been the standard of care for virtually all patients undergoing coronary stent procedures at our institution,'' stated David Cohen, MD, Associate Director of Interventional Cardiology at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, MA and Principal Investigator for the ESPRIT economic study. ``Given the affordable cost of INTEGRILIN and its highly favorable cost-effectiveness profile, there is no reason why physicians, hospital administrators, or payors should restrict access to GP IIb-IIIa inhibitor therapy in the catheterization laboratory.''
Other Presentations on INTEGRILIN in Percutaneous Coronary Interventions
Also presented at the Scientific Sessions were the one-year efficacy results for the subset of 467 diabetic patients enrolled in ESPRIT, a group at high risk for procedural complications. INTEGRILIN was shown to reduce the combined incidence of death and heart attack from 13.4 percent with placebo to 7.8 percent at one year. Consistent reductions in events were reported in insulin-dependent, medication-controlled, and diet-controlled diabetic patients.
A presentation of the results of the CRUISE study, designed to evaluate the potential utility of INTEGRILIN combined with either unfractionated heparin or enoxaparin, a low-molecular-weight heparin, demonstrated similar safety and efficacy outcomes for both treatment groups in 261 patients undergoing intracoronary stenting.
Presentations on INTEGRILIN in ST-segment Elevation Myocardial
Infarction (MI)
Findings were also presented from a series of studies intended to identify an appropriate Phase III development plan for INTEGRILIN in patients with ST-segment elevation MI, commonly referred to as heart attack. Final study results from the Phase II INTEGRITI study indicate that INTEGRILIN plus a half dose of the clot-buster agent, tenecteplase, opened or reperfused occluded arteries within 60 minutes in 20 percent more patients than tenecteplase alone. Results from the continuous ST-segment monitoring sub-study from INTEGRITI, entitled ASTRONAMI, revealed that use of INTEGRILIN in combination with half-dose tenecteplase improved measures of reperfusion, extent of reperfusion, and maintenance of reperfusion more than full-dose tenecteplase alone. While the incidence of intracranial bleeding was not increased in the combination arm, bleeding at the site of catheter placement trended higher.
The INTEGRITI and ASTRONAMI study results suggest that a combination of INTEGRILIN plus half-dose tenecteplase opens occluded arteries prior to early catheterization and revascularization. A presentation of the RAPIER study results also revealed that INTEGRILIN alone, administered without fibrinolytic therapy, in the Emergency Department to patients with ST-segment elevation MI helped to open up occluded arteries prior to early catheterization and intervention.
The investigators for the trials consider these findings important given that previous studies have shown that patients with open arteries experience fewer adverse complications following revascularization than those with occluded arteries. Most patients in the U.S. undergo coronary catheterization and revascularization, when appropriate, and there is a growing trend towards early intervention.
As a result of these study findings, as well as current trends in U.S. MI patient management, investigators announced the initiation of the ADVANCE MI (ADdressing the Value of facilitated ANgioplasty after Combination therapy or Eptifibatide monotherapy in acute Myocardial Infarction) study, which has been designed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of INTEGRILIN with or without half-dose tenecteplase in patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction who are to undergo direct percutaneous coronary intervention. The approximately 6,000 patient study will be jointly coordinated by the Thrombolysis in Myocardial Infarction (TIMI) research network at Harvard University and the Duke University Clinical Research Institute (DCRI). [snip]
I believe that "use of GP IIb-IIIa inhibitor therapy" has become "the standard of care" not just at Beth Israel but for cardiologists generally. Since Integrilin has more than half that market, taking it from higher-priced entries from JNJ and MRK, I don't see a good "fundamental" reason for recent weakness.
Economic analyses like the portions in bold always impress me more than they seem to impress the market. <g>
Cheers,
--RCM |
