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Biotech / Medical : VVUS: VIVUS INC. (NASDAQ) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Mark A. Stang who wrote (2071)	11/5/1997 5:09:00 PM
From: DR. BOND	Respond to of 23519

FYI!..The following is a reprint from the Bridge notes from Dain Bosworth's HEALTHCARE SYMPOSIUM, held in Boston on Oct. 30, 1997. I am only postings the section that talks about VVUS due to the length of the note. Dain Bosworth hosted the "Revolutionary Urology" Healthcare Symposium on October 30, 1997, at the Le Meriden Hotel in Boston, Ma., which featured presentations by 16 companies and a urologist panel debate, TURP Wars, on non-surgical BPH therapies. This one-day, first-of-its-kind event was well attended by more than 150 institutional investors, venture capitalists, and industry representatives. Given the size of the audience and their enthusiasm, investors are clearly recognizing the considerable opportunities in the burgeoning urology market. For those that missed this event, we have summarized the highlights below. COMPANIES WE LIKED BEST: While each presentation was timely and informative, the following campanies stand-out as particulary compelling ideas on which to focus: Vivus, Inc. (BUY). On october 30 VIVUS announced an agreement with Johnson & Johnson's Janssen subsidiary to markey MUSE in Russia, the Middle East, India and Africa and will receive a $2 million milestone in Q4 97. Approval of MUSE in the United Kingdom, expected any day, could add about $0.04 upside to our $0.32 estimate. Roughly 80% of MUSE prescriptions are being reimbursed by third-party payors, and with November being Impotence Awareness Month, we expect interest in VIVUS to rise. And with VVUS trading at 18 times our FY 98 estimate of $1.50, we believe the shares are cheap. The introduction of new oral drugs for ED by early to mid 1998 is expected to expand the patient pool tremendously. However, we believe that Pfizer, Inc. (PFE $71) and the eventual marketer of Zonagen, Inc's (ZONA $32 3/4) drug will each target the general practioner (GP) as a primary customer with their large salesforce. While VIVUS is expected to increase the number of it's sales reps to 75 from 50 by year end, it may be a challenge to reach 13,000 GPs. We believe that a potential distribution arrangement with a large pharmaceutical player would boost MUSE's visibility with GPs, stemming investor's fears that oral drugs will negatively impact MUSE sales. An estimated 15-30 million American men are affected with some level of ED-40% of men over age 40 and 70% of men over age 70. However, only a handful are currently seeking treatment. VIVUS pointed out a number of examples where the introduction of pharma therapies served to aid the sales of other competitive therapies by enhancing the patient pool and market size, such as drugs to treat ulcers and hypertension. ------------ The above was taken directly out of the Dain Bosworth notes and only include comments about VVUS> Good Luck, Dr. Bond PS. Thank you Dain Bosworth