Conference call just completed. Some of the bullet points:
1. All analysts were very enthusiastic in their praise for the financial performance. (Kevin Tang) said the quarter is quite remarkable; hope he doesn't downgrade it this quarter.
2. Company said 60,000 patients on drug at end of September quarter.
3. New guidance on sales for fiscal year in excess of $300 million. This is in contrast to their guidance of in excess of $250 million at the end of June.
4. Sales trends remain very strong, and the profile of new patients on Viracept has changed dramatically since the initial launch. At first, 2 out of 3 new patients were PI experience; now 2 out of 3 new patients are PI naive. Sounds to me like the great majority of new patients starting therapy are using Viracept.
5. At Hamburg, BID late breaker will be presented. Small trial of approximately 8 to 10 patients. Peter said results are very exciting. A more in depth approximately 200 patient study in Europe should be presented in February in Chicago. Clearly, the company is very, very happy with what they are seeing on BID dosage.
6. DM266 (the new DuPont Merck compound) in the preliminary pharmokinetics studies looks to be extremely encouraging. For example, taking DM266 with Viracept actually increases the level of Viracept in the blood, unlike Crixivan where the dosage had to be increased to keep the blood level high enough, creating real problems for Merck. Peter said it is fair to say that DuPont Merck is going to use the drug in the best possible combination, and there are no hang-ups due to the Merck association. They have been very even-handed and fair.
All in all, a remarkable performance, and these people keep doing it, but of course they do have the best drug.
Remember the stock is now up sharply from 3 days ago when I said that there was a semi-annual giveaway on Agouron. Now we are getting into trickier waters but clearly, over the next 3 to 6 months, we are talking $70 to $75.
Cheers!
PS - John W, we miss you. |
