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Biotech / Medical : Biotech Valuation -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Jim Oravetz who wrote (1056)	5/5/2000 10:04:00 AM
From: Biomaven	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 52153

Here's an interesting entry in the "not the best drug, but cheap" stakes: Friday May 5, 7:01 am Eastern Time Company Press Release SOURCE: Kos Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Kos Pharmaceuticals Announces Results for First Quarter 2000 - Revenue Grows by 144 Percent - MIAMI, May 5 /PRNewswire/ -- Kos Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: KOSP - news) announced today financial results for its first quarter ended March 31, 2000. For the quarter, Kos reported revenue of $13.4 million and a net loss of $11.2 million, or $0.62 per share, compared with revenues of $5.5 million and a loss of $15.2 million, or $0.86 per share, for the same quarter a year ago. The 144 percent increase in revenue was primarily the result of continued growth in Niaspan© prescriptions; Niaspan sales accounted for $12.6 million of revenue for the quarter. ``Fueled in part by the increasing emphasis in medical circles of the critical importance of raising HDL cholesterol, the growth in Niaspan prescriptions continues to outpace the market more than two full years after its introduction,'' said Daniel M. Bell, President and Chief Executive Officer of Kos. ``We believe the increasing recognition of the therapeutic importance of aggressively treating all components of cholesterol bodes well not only for the continued growth of Niaspan, but also for the opportunity for our next product, Nicostatin(TM), to effectively compete with the current cholesterol market leaders.'' An editorial published in the March 1 edition of The American Journal of Cardiology indicated that the prevalence of isolated low HDL in coronary heart disease (CHD) patients is most likely greater than the prevalence of isolated LDL disorders. The editorial concludes that a therapeutic strategy that focuses on both reducing LDL cholesterol and raising HDL cholesterol increases the likelihood of lowering cardiovascular event rates from current levels. The editorial also strongly endorses niacin, alone or in combination with statins, as part of such aggressive therapy to maximize the effects in improving HDL and LDL cholesterol. Nicostatin is a single-tablet formulation that integrates the multiple lipid benefits of Niaspan with lovastatin, a powerful agent to reduce LDL cholesterol. Yesterday, the Company announced that it has entered into an $80-million strategic alliance with DuPont Pharmaceuticals Company to co-promote Nicostatin in the U.S. and Canada. Under the terms of the agreement, DuPont will provide $17.5 million in milestone payments and $32.5 million for future clinical development of Nicostatin. Additionally, DuPont will make equity investments in Kos of up to $30 million through Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval of the drug. Both Kos and DuPont will equally share in the costs of promoting the product as well as share in the product profits after deducting a royalty to Kos. Dupont and Kos will also explore other opportunities for collaboration, including Kos' Niaspan product and Kos' unique aerosol and solid-dose drug delivery platforms. ``The exceptional efficacy of Nicostatin across all major lipid risk factors, combined with the increased firepower of DuPont co-promoting the product, supports our belief that Nicostatin will capture a meaningful share of the projected $8-billion statin market,'' said Bell. ``Nicostatin will be positioned as a statin-plus product, offering physicians one complete solution when treating patients with HDL, LDL and triglyceride disorders.'' The Company remains on schedule to file its New Drug Application (NDA) for Nicostatin with the FDA during the second half of 2000. All trials necessary to submit the NDA have been completed. Preliminary results from a long-term open label study of the safety and efficacy of Nicostatin were reported at the annual meeting of the American College of Cardiology in March. Those results revealed striking therapeutic improvements in all four of the major lipid parameters of concern to physicians when treating cholesterol disorders. Lovastatin of course is not the best statin, but is cheap. The combo should be cheap as well, which means managed care should love it. It will likely only ever be a niche player in this market in dollar terms, but 5% of a $7 billion market would still make KOSP very happy. Peter