Leg:
Price (09/09/04) $11.67
S&P Index (09/09/04) 1,115.44
52-Week Range $41 - $11
Market Cap.($mm) $252.1
Shr.O/S-Diluted (mm) 21.6
Enterprise Val. ($mm) $187.6
Avg Daily Vol (3 Mo) 235,363
LT Debt/Total Cap. 0.0%
Net Cash/Share $3.10
Dividend ($) $0.00
Yield (%) 0.0%
Book Value/Share $1.99
Target Price NA
* This morning Trimeris announced the appointment of Steven D. Skolsky as the
company's new Chief Executive Officer.
* Mr. Skolsky will replace company founder Dani Bolognesi, Ph.D. as CEO
effective immediately. Dr. Bolognesi will remain with the company in the
capacity of Chief Scientific Officer and Vice Chairman of the Board of
Directors.
* Mr. Skolsky's background is from big pharma, specifically GlaxoSmithKline. We
believe Mr. Skolsky has been brought in to try to enliven the struggling
Fuzeon franchise.
* While we believe Mr. Skolsky will add a certainly positive dimension to the
Trimeris story, we are not sure if even big pharma experience can overcome
Fuzeon's shortcomings.
* We are comforted by the fact that Dr. Bolognesi is remaining with Trimeris in
a position of authority. We always have and continue to believe that Trimeris
has a strong management team, but just faced with a compound with significant
limiting factors.
* We are maintaining our Hold rating on the shares.
Investment Conclusion
This morning Trimeris announced that it has appointed Steven D. Skolsky to the
position of Chief Executive Officer, effective immediately. Dr. Dani Bolognesi
will remain with the company in the capacity of Chief Scientific Officer and
Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors. While we are sorry to see Dr.
Bolognesi step down, we are comforted by the fact that he will remain with the
company in a senior management position.
Mr. Skolsky is joining Trimeris directly from GlaxoSmithKline, which is
currently the leader in HIV therapeutics. While at GSK, Mr. Skolsky managed
product strategy and worldwide clinical development for the GSK portfolio as
Senior Vice President, Global Commercial Strategy. He previously served as
Managing Director of GSK's operation in New Zealand and Australia,
successively. Earlier in his career, Mr. Skolsky was leader of the HIV/Oncology
division as Glaxo Wellcome, where he served as Vice President of Sales and
Marketing.
As Trimeris continues to have difficulty in the HIV market in significantly
overcoming multiple Fuzeon hurdles such as the onerous method of delivery,
subcutaneous twice daily, and the high cost of goods associated with the drug,
we believe the expertise of a big pharma executive will have a positive impact
as Mr. Skolsky's expertise is in the sales and marketing arena, exactly where
Fuzeon needs a boost.
We do however, remain cautious at the drug's long-term prospects and believe
investors should continue to take a wait-and-see approach to this name.
Despite the improvement in Fuzeon scripts, Trimeris continues to face a
plethora of challenging issues including: minimal sales of its sole product
Fuzeon, a dwindling cash position, and the lack of a pipeline. In our opinion,
the lackluster demand for Fuzeon is a result of the convergence of many issues,
including: a salvage patient population that may not be as large as initially
expected, physician hesitation to prescribe Fuzeon to patients for fear that
they will not be compliant, and patient aversion to Fuzeon therapy due to its
twice daily subcutaneous dosing regimen. When these issues are combined with
the high production costs (we estimate COGS are currently greater than 50%) and
the exorbitant price of the drug, the result has been a very challenging Fuzeon
launch, despite the excellent safety and efficacy data of the drug. Please see
our model (attached).
Potential Upcoming Events/Milestones
* 3Q04 Conference Call, October 2004
* Selection of next-generation fusion-inhibitor drug candidate, 4Q04
Company Description
Trimeris, Inc. is a biopharmaceutical company headquartered in Durham, NC, that
discovers and develops fusion inhibitors for the treatment of HIV. The company
recently received FDA approval for its lead compound, Fuzeon. Fuzeon is the
first in a new class of antiretrovirals known as fusion inhibitors. Trimeris'
collaborator for the development and commercialization of its technology is
Roche. Fusion inhibitors represent a fourth class of drugs currently available
for the treatment of HIV.
I, Edward Nash, certify that the views expressed in.. |
