Questcor Pharmaceuticals Announces Preliminary Operating Metrics for Third
Quarter 2011
ANAHEIM, Calif., Sept. 28, 2011 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- Questcor
Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (QCOR) today announced preliminary operating metrics for
its third quarter ending September 30, 2011. The Company announced the estimated
metrics in conjunction with the Jeffries Global Healthcare Conference in London,
where Don M. Bailey, President and Chief Executive Officer of Questcor, presented
on Wednesday, September 28, 2011, at 8:00 a.m. BT, 3:00 a.m. ET. To listen to the
audio web cast of the presentation, please visit questcor.com. The
replay will be available for 90 days after the event.
For the quarter ending September 30, 2011, the Company provided the following
preliminary estimated operating metrics:
Based on internal Company data through September 26, 2011:
New, paid prescriptions of the Company's principal drug, H.P. Acthar? Gel
(Acthar), for the treatment of exacerbations of multiple sclerosis (MS) during
the full third quarter are expected to exceed 850, up over 160% from the year ago
period.
New, paid prescriptions for nephrotic syndrome (NS) are expected to exceed 55.
New, paid prescriptions for infantile spasms (IS) are expected to exceed 105.
Vials of Acthar, shipped during the quarter are expected to exceed 2,750, up over
45% from the year ago period.
During the third quarter, the Company has not repurchased any of its common
stock. Prior repurchases have used over $78 million since this effort began in
2008. As of September 26, 2011, Questcor had 62.7 million shares of common stock
outstanding, with 4.3 million shares remaining under its common stock repurchase
program.
As of September 26, 2011, Questcor's cash, cash equivalents and short-term
investments totaled $174 million.
Questcor currently expects to release its financial results for the third quarter
on October 25, 2011.
"Increases in new, paid MS prescriptions are the result of increased productivity
from our Specialty Sales Force which consists of 77 Acthar sales
representatives," said Don M. Bailey, President and CEO of Questcor
Pharmaceuticals. "In addition, despite disruption in our nephrology selling
effort as we expanded the Nephrology Sales Force from 5 to 28 sales
representatives, new, paid NS prescriptions have increased from the second
quarter of 2011. The new Nephrology Sales Force has been hired and training will
be completed this week. Some of the new nephrology sales representatives and the
Specialty Sales Force contributed to the increased script count in the quarter."
The Company's quarterly vial shipments continue to be subject to significant
variation due to the size and timing of individual orders from its distributor,
and the timing of these orders can significantly affect net sales and net income
in any particular quarter. For this reason, as well as other factors causing
quarter-to-quarter variability in Questcor's operating results, the Company
believes that investors should consider the Company's results over several
quarters when analyzing the Company's financial performance. All of the financial
and prescription information above is based on preliminary estimates and analysis
and are subject to change as the Company continues to close the quarter and
conduct its normal financial reviews.
Prescription Information for MS, IS and NS
Because Acthar prescriptions are filled at specialty pharmacies, the Company does
not receive complete information regarding either the number of prescriptions or
the number of vials by therapeutic area for all of the patients being treated
with Acthar. However, Questcor is able to monitor therapeutic use for new Acthar
prescriptions based on data it receives from its reimbursement support center.
Questcor estimates that over 90% of new Acthar prescriptions are processed by
this support center. |
