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

To: Chris Delap who wrote (5281)	2/4/1998 1:26:00 AM
From: Whipsaw	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 23519

In 5281, you wrote: "Vivus accepts the return of outdated full or partial boxes." ...This also means that Vivus can't count shipped product as sales, this may not be significant. Vivus does recognize the revenue when the product is shipped. Any returns of outdated merchandise would be booked in a contra-revenue account in the quarter it was returned. In the 10-Q, Vivus does not show this amount separately, but it is a component of the "Net product sales" item on the income statement. I would not expect returns to be a significant amount, but it is very important to realize that revenue is recognized in the quarter that product is shipped. This is why some companies pay their shippers to keep trucks available at their shipping dock right up until midnight on the last day of the quarter. If it's on the truck by midnight, it's revenue for that quarter. (I'm not an accountant, so I'd appreciate it if the CPAs out there could correct any inaccuracies.) --Whippy

To: Chris Delap who wrote (5281)	2/4/1998 7:00:00 AM
From: MissLil	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 23519

Thanks CD for your truly interesting post re: pharmacy issues. One thing that it brought to my attention is the importance of good advertising and PR for Vivus to do really well. Relatively inexpensive things that they could do include: aggressive presentations at medical meetings, such as the AAFP (family practice), ACP/ASIM (Internists). They could present at ACEP (Emergency Medicine) since some patients will present as emergencies (too much of a good thing). Etc. Articles in consumer magazines such as Redbook, Ladie's Home Journal, Esquire, not to mention the obvious Playboy and Cosmo. Opinion leader type magazines include: Worth, New Republic, National Review, Columbia Journalism Review, etc. There are several issues that would be of interest to this crowd with Vivus featured (on-line investing, PFE snow job on the media, the NFL episode). If the word does not get out, no matter how good the product, the product won't do well. I personally think that men with mild to moderate ED could consider having both Viagra and Muse on the shelf. Even if a man has mild ED and responds to Viagra, Muse might be nice for those times when time is a factor. IMHO.

To: Chris Delap who wrote (5281)	2/4/1998 9:21:00 AM
From: Zebra 365	Respond to of 23519

Chris, thanks for taking the time to report your wife's pharmacy experience. I only have a small correction and addition. The kit price is in the neighborhood of $100 for a 6 pack of the highest dosage (500mcg.). This is a relatively expensive drug. The patient is the only person who can answer whether this is too expensive. Actually, the highest dose is 1000 micrograms, not 500. My patient two days ago reported the retail price he paid with no HMO subsidy of $70 for a "six-pack" of the 500mcg dose. I agree that there will be downward pricing pressure when other therapies are available. This is why the new manufacturing facility is so important, to keep lowering the cost of production so MUSE can stay price competitive. Again, thanks for taking the time to contribute. Zebra

To: Chris Delap who wrote (5281)	2/4/1998 5:54:00 PM
From: Edderd	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 23519

Chris, The real question I have is do the 10 PCP's have any knowledge of the product and does the cost and their managed care organization frown on the use of expensive drugs for non essential purposes. Is their "cost acuity" and evaluation dependent on their cost of care? Might make a very big difference in why she has so few prescriptions. There are definitely customers out there to at least try the product if mentioned by the doctors. IMO Ed

To: Chris Delap who wrote (5281)	2/6/1998 10:42:00 AM
From: Tunica Albuginea	Respond to of 23519

Chris I went back and read your earlier post. I don't know what your points or questions are but perhaps you can summarize them for us. Here is my take from what I think I understood: -managed care is evolving. No longer will Cos/Ins be able to tell docs what to prescribe; less restrictive. -On the other hand sex is an essential part of one's life. Once word gets around about MUSE, men will demand it. -At worse they can pay out of their pocket. At $20 every 2 weeks, this may equal the expense of a night out and couples will prefer that. That equals $1000/year for Vivus: the cost of a sub $1000 computer. (Which is why I sold Intc and bought Vivus ). -Managed care is not representative of the best practice in medicine, with all respect to your wife who I am sure is a very good physician and just happens to find herself in that (managed) care situation. This is why more people want to leave or change managed care. -In 98 you are looking at large managed care patient fee increases because exactly they found out patients want more and they have to find a way to pay for it. -It will be hard for the very busy managed care physicians to get educated in MUSE but eventually they will. As MUSE becomes readily available they'll prescribe it. -Medicare pays also for in office supervision of initiation of MUSE. -The danger of hypotension is overblown. Most patients do just fine. -The prostate relaxers Cardura, Hytrin, Prazosin all have in their inserts the first dose hypotension phenomenon. That hasn't stopped anybody from prescribing.you just have to be careful and know what you are doing. -Your reps comments about Viagra are the same as those for Redux: Dreamin'. We all like to ascribe mythical powers to drugs. Very few drugs have that. Tom Lue mentioned " the revolutionary birth control pill ". That was not a new drug invention. The BC pill is nothing more than our ability to identify and isolate and then copy and manufacture female estrogen hormones: that is what is in the BC pill: female hormones. TA