It's true that Rebecca did not use microphones. Its also
true in my opinion that Rebecca asked every though
question and then answered them. Remember she would only
answere what she does no matter who asked the questions.
The point is she made sure they were all covered. Then
she sat in the middle of a crowd for another hour and
answered every question. There was more access than at
any previous meeting.
post 2 by furnitureman
As has been noted by other posters, REK prepared a scripted Q&A - i.e. no live shareholders were allowed to get up at a microphone and, in front of the whole meeting, ask any unscripted questions. Control freakery run amok, methinks.]
[REK explained the rationale behind the scripted Q&A was that last year people listening the web cast could not hear the questions, and also that it was a way to get more questions answered. She explained that these were actual questions sent in from actual s/h to the IR department and that they were tough - she may even have used the word brutal, but you'd have to check the webcast to confirm that.]
[As some other posters have noted, in the scrum REK said that these would be put up on the web site, but she didn't give a timeline LOL. The questions and answers listed below are in the order that REK brought then up. And a reminder: listen to the webcast if you want to hear the official record - these are my notes and recollections.]
FINANCING - DMX is currently considering a variety of public and private equity placements, as well as extending Acqua. "Why did you continue with Acqua when it is driving down the share price?" - It offers us flexibilty and doesn't cost time and money like a roadshow does
OXO - "How do you expect to make the next OXO payment?" - We will not be announcing the mix beforehand (i.e. mix of cash and shares)
PROMISED HC APPROVAL - "You promised HC approval by August 1st; why did it not come?" - We should not have trusted HC to stick to their guidelines
DIALOGUE WITH REGULATORS - "Is there continuing dialogue? Why no updates since August?" - [This was a fairly long answer, but the gist of it is that revealing the dialogue with the regulators would, ultimately, be counter-productive to shareholders. You may want to listen to the webcast for clarification. REK did say that "once we hit a milestone we will let you know"]
TIME TO MARKET - "Once DMX has approval from HC how long will it take to get to market?" - Once product labelling is finished we can start shipping to pharmacies. We need to get Pennsaid listed on the provincial formularies.
J&J / McNeil - [Can't remember the question] - Still talking to McNeil. They are our preferred US Marketing partner. J&J are committed to be being in the pain relief field. We have had expressions of interest from other large pharmas, so if McNeil withdrew we could talk to others.
UK DISTRIBUTION - "Why hasn't a new distribution partner been announced?" - We are conducting studies with a UK firm to ensure that there is a good fit between then and DMX. One study has been completed and the other will be completed shortly.
EURO SALES - "Why have there been no sales in the European countries that have approved Pennsaid"? - We have to get labelling finished. [I thiink she made a reference to getting things translated, but I'm not 100% sure of this.]
OTHER EURO APPROVALS - "How long til DMX gets approval in the other Euro countries?" - MPR process is complex, not terribly "mutual" and you have to get all 10 countries to agree, i.e. all or nothing.
SMALL DISTRIBUTION PARTNERS - "Why do you partner with small pharmas?" - This is optimal for the s/h. A lot of the big pharmas have just merged (or are about to merge) and it is difficult to get the appropriate people's attention when they are concentrating on the merger. [I thought this was a particularly lame answer.]
SALES PROJECTIONS - "What are your sales projections for the Canadian market?" - It would be inappropriate to disclose for competitive reasons at this point. When Pennsaid gets listed on the Formularies we can start making projections.
CARRIBBEAN - "How much have you sold in the Carribbean?" - Started selling in Carib in April 2002, mostly in Barbados, St Vincent and Antigua. Two of the biggest markets in the Carib are Jamaica and Trinidad and they will only allow sales when the country where the product is made (ie Canada) gives approval. [I don't remember this last bit of information ever having been disclosed before.]
WF10 - "When will WF10 P3 results be announced?" - Management is very frustrated. They are working with Oxo's contract research organization to move things as quickly as possible. Last patient was finished July 2001. After the data is unlocked DMX will meet with FDA. Analysis of unlocked data will be quick.
CDN SALES FORCE - "Why did you hire a Canadian sales force?" - We have 40 reps and they were hired about a year ago. If we did not think they were adding value to the company we would have let them go a long time ago. They are spending their time building their territories, speaking to doctors, pharmacists etc.
NASDAQ - [Can remember the exact question] - DMX has discussed things with the exchange. DMX needs to be there, but right now adverse market conditions are a (the?) limiting factor.
SHARE PRICE - "Why is share price so dismal" - It has been in line with how other comparable companies have performed. The stock price has not affected our ability to raise capital.
PATENTS - "What are you doing to extend patent life?" - Some commercial strategies are in place, but it is not appropriate to disclose them right now. DMZX has access to regulatory provisions in US and Europe to extend, but not in Canada.
REK SHARE SALE - [Can't remember exact wording, but it was along lines of Why did you sell your shares.] - As another poster has already noted, REK basically didn't answer the question. She said that she and the BoD have complete confidence in the company.
CORPORATE GOVERNANCE - [Again, I can't remember the exact question] - Where we can make changes we have. Don't want to adopt a one-size-fits-all solution. You can't legislate integrity. Nortel or Enron would have scored 100 on the Globe scale. We don't need rules to know how to do the right thing. We are doing what US rules say. We have never issued options for less than market price. Our track record speaks for itself.
IR - "Why won't company tell investors what's happening?" - Media experts added. New IR person (head?), who has 10 years experience. We have to keep to the proper regulatory environment. We'd love to tell you more but we have to keep the regulators happy. They look at our web site.
PIPELINE - "What are the plans for developing your pipeline?" - There are about a dozen indications we could go for. We will concentrate on 3 or 4, perhaps cancer for WF10
- - - - - - - - - - - -
That was the end of the scripted Q&A. REK said that management would then themselves available for questions after the meeting....the infamous scrum.
Before the formal part of the meeting was ended, REK said that part of the problem they were facing was "that the regulators say if you don't have side effects then you don't have a drug".
She ended by saying "We are one year closer to realizing our vision".
I'll post what I heard in the scrum in Part 3.
FM |
