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`NPS Pharmaceuticals' (NPSP) CEO Francois Nader on Q1 2014 Results Earnings Call Transcript | Seeking Alpha
`
`NPS Pharmaceuticals' (NPSP) CEO Francois
`Nader on Q1 2014 Results Earnings Call
`Transcript
`
`NPS Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:NPSP)
`
`Q1 2014 Earnings Conference Call
`
`May 8, 2014 8:30 AM ET
`
`Executives
`
`Susan Mesco – Executive DirectorInvestor Relations
`
`Francois Nader – President and Chief Executive Officer
`
`Luke M. Beshar – Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
`
`Eric Pauwels – Senior Vice President and PresidentNPS Pharma International
`
`Roger J. Garceau – Executive Vice President and Chief Medical Officer
`
`Paul Firuta – PresidentUS Commercial Operations
`Analysts
`
`Geoffrey C. Meacham JPMorgan Securities LLC
`
`Navdeep Singh – Goldman Sachs & Co.
`
`David Friedman – Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC
`
`Alan Carr – Needham & Co. LLC
`
`Boris Peaker – Oppenheimer & Co., Inc.
`
`David M. Nierengarten – Wedbush Securities, Inc.
`
`Carol Werther – Summer Street Research Partners
`
`Paul A. Matteis – Leerink Partners LLC
`
`Graig Suvannavejh – MLV & Co. LLC
`
`Eun K. Yang – Jefferies LLC
`
`Navdeep Singh – Goldman Sachs & Co.
`Operator
`
`Good day, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the First Quarter 2014 Pharma Earnings Conference
`Call. My name is Pereta and I will be your operator for today. At this time, all participants are in listenonly
`mode. We will conduct a questionandanswer session towards the end of the conference. (Operator
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`Instructions) As a reminder, this call is being recorded for replay purposes.
`
`And now I would like to turn the call over to Susan Mesco, Executive Director Investor Relations. Please
`proceed, ma’am.
`
`Susan Mesco
`
`Thank you, Pereta and welcome to our first quarter conference call. Before we start, let me remind you
`that today’s call will include forwardlooking statements based on current expectations. Such statements
`represent our judgment as of today and may involve risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results
`to differ from the results discussed in forwardlooking statements. Please refer to our filings with the SEC,
`which are available from the SEC or our website for information concerning the risk factors that could
`affect the company.
`
`Joining me on today’s call are members of our executive management team, including Dr. Francois Nader,
`our President and Chief Executive Officer; Luke Beshar, our Chief Financial Officer; Eric Pauwels,
`President, NPS Pharma International; Roger Garceau, Chief Medical Officer and Paul Firuta, President,
`US Commercial Operations.
`
`Francois Nader
`
`Thank you, Susan, and good morning everyone. Thank you for joining us on today’s call. 2014 continues
`to be an important growth year for NPS Pharma as we are focusing on our four strategic priorities: first, the
`continued growth of Gattex in the U.S.; second, securing the U.S. approval of Natpara; third, expanding
`our international business; and fourth, advancing our pipeline to drive longterm success.
`
`I will start with Gattex in the U.S. February marked the first anniversary of the U.S. introduction of Gattex.
`We are very proud that the launch of Gattex has been one of the most successful ultraorphan drug
`launches to date.
`
`Last year we penetrated 6% to 10% of the estimated addressable market and delivered sales of $32
`million. I am confident that we have built a great foundation for the continuing success of our Short Bowel
`Syndrome franchise in 2014. We achieved first quarter sales of approximately $18 million, representing
`sequential growth of 17%.
`
`Physician interest in Gattex remains very high with new prescriptions in March and April higher than fourth
`quarter monthly averages. We are also seeing an expanding base of prescriber from GI physicians to
`surgeons, and we are investing in this important growth opportunity by expanding our reach to more
`potential prescribers in more territories.
`
`And we are getting anecdotal feedback with stories of patients on Gattex freeing themselves from parental
`nutrition, while significantly decreasing the frequency of its use after being dependent for many years. All
`this of course is very gratifying to us as we believe we are making a real difference to patients. This being
`said, we faced some unique challenges early on in the year, resulting in sales that were slower than
`expected in January and February. It happens for two main reasons. First, delays in new dispenses along
`with their subsequent refills partially due to the severe winter weather.
`
`The impact on patients and physicians included delays in scheduling and performing the tests and
`procedures that are recommended prior to starting Gattex. It also affected the coordination of nursing visits
`for new patient starts. These challenges were also compounded by the fact that given their small number,
`our sales representatives have to cover large geographies and suspended travel took them out of the field
`on all too many occasions.
`
`The second reason has to do with an increase in discontinuations. In the first quarter we saw a small uptick
`in our discontinuation rate, which we anticipated would take place over time. As you may recall, last year
`we reported less than 10% of patients had discontinued therapy, which was better than we had expected
`given that Gattex is a selfinjectable product for the chronic condition. Importantly though we are pleased
`that the current trends continue to be well below our anticipated longterm discontinuation range of 20% to
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`NPS Pharmaceuticals' (NPSP) CEO Francois Nader on Q1 2014 Results Earnings Call Transcript | Seeking Alpha
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`Despite the bounce back in March and April, it is unlikely that this will compensate for the first quarter
`shortfall. Therefore, we are revising our full year guidance for 2014 to a range $100 million to $110 million
`from our prior guidance of $110 million to $120 million. However, this revision has to be put in perspective
`recognizing that the 2014 outlook represents 200% yearoveryear growth, which would be a tremendous
`second year for any product launch.
`
`As we remain very bullish on the longterm outlook for Gattex, we decided to invest in maximizing the full
`market potential for Gattex by deploying the following new commercial initiatives. First, we have added
`more firepower to the U.S. Commercial leadership team. We are very happy to welcome Paul Firuta to
`NSP Pharma. Paul joined us in March to lead our U.S. Commercial Operations.
`
`He is a seasoned commercial executive with extensive experience launching and commercializing
`biologics. Most recently Paul led the ViroPharma’s commercial operations for the Americas where he
`directed the launch of Cinryze, one of the most successful orphan drug launches to date in the U.S. With
`both the appointments, Eric Pauwels, who has led the successful launch for Gattex in the U.S., will now
`focus on growing our international business.
`
`Our second initiative is that after our first year of commercial experience we are also learning that Gattex is
`promotionally sensitive and we will be capitalizing on this opportunity by adding 11 new representatives to
`our sales organization. One of the reasons for this expansion is that while GI specialists remain our primary
`focus, we have seen a meaningful percentage of prescriptions coming from colorectal surgeons and our
`surgical specialists. Consequently, our expanded fieldbased team would allow us to begin calling on these
`new targets.
`
`In addition, we are significantly increasing awareness of Short Bowel Syndrome through programs like
`patient and physician education, peertopeer targeting and outreach through patient advocacy to make
`sure we are educating physicians and patients on Short Bowel Syndrome and Gattex in the U.S.
`
`Now let me turn to Natpara, our second strategic priority which is securing the U.S. approval of Natpara.
`As you know, our U.S. BLA is currently under FDA review and our PDUFA action date is October 24. FDA
`is actively engaged and our interactions with the agency are ongoing. During our midcycle discussion FDA
`confirmed they intent to review Natpara at an Advisory Committee Meeting, which is tentatively scheduled
`for July 24.
`
`As we did successfully with Gattex, we are working with distinguished outside experts including former FDA
`reviewers and panel members to prepare for the outcome. Our European strategy for Natpara, which will
`be the brand name for Natpara in Europe, is proceeding according to plan and we expect to file the NAA
`this year.
`
`As you know, patients with hyperparathyroidism face a significant burden of disease given the multitude of
`physical, cognitive, and emotional systems associated with this disorder. And when approved, Natpara
`would provide hyperparathyroidism in patients with the first exact replica replacement therapy to treat their
`condition.
`
`We have geared up our prelaunch activities to lay the groundwork for the successful introduction of
`Natpara in the U.S. Our prelaunch activities focus on education and generating awareness on the burden
`of hypoparathyroidism through three key strategies. First, educating patients, so far we have generated
`significant awareness through our unbranded Web site hypoparathyroidismanswers.com, where patients
`can register and opt in to receive information and updates on hypoparathyroidism. We have also created a
`very large online community for hypoparathyroidism.
`
`Second, educating physicians. We’re in the process of profiling centers of excellence and prioritizing our
`targeted endocrinologists in the U.S. We will also began a disease awareness campaign with physicians.
`
`And third, profiling the condition. Our longterm natural history registry Paradigm, which launched in the
`second half of last year, will be a key tool to help us characterize the burden of hypoparathyroidism and its
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`NPS Pharmaceuticals' (NPSP) CEO Francois Nader on Q1 2014 Results Earnings Call Transcript | Seeking Alpha
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`We have been very active preparing for a successful launch. Our team is making excellent progress and
`we look forward to making this important treatment available to hypoparathyroidism patients as quickly as
`possible. We’ve continue to provide more and more details as we get closure to the launch.
`
`Our third strategic corporate therapy I would like to cover today is our international expansion, and at this
`time I would like to invite Eric Pauwels to provide you with a brief update. Eric?
`Eric Pauwels
`
`Thank you, Francois and good morning to all joining today’s call. The international expansion of our orphan
`disease franchise continue to advance. We have made important progress since we last we spoke. Our
`international management team is now largely in place as well as the local and regional management
`physicians.
`
`We are very pleased with the caliber and experience of the individuals who joined us as many came to
`NPS Pharma from the leadership roles at highly viewed biopharmaceutical companies with specific
`expertise in successfully launching orphan products.
`
`Based on our expectation for securing our target pricing and reimbursement we expect that our
`international roll out will start with our first commercial launch in Germany followed by the U.K. and then
`Nordic countries. As Germany is a key reference for international pricing, we have decided to take
`advantage of the new longterm data that speaks to real life post marketing experience such as parenteral
`support medium data from U.S. centers of excellence to strengthen our (indiscernible) investigation.
`
`For this reason, we decided to slightly delay our German filings from midyear to the fall to leverage
`stronger robust and value proposition that supports similar pricing quarter.
`
`We are also making good progress in the UK working with KOLs and centers of excellence. In parallel, we
`continue to build Short Bowel Syndrome awareness in international markets. We had conducted meetings
`with leading SBS experts in Europe, Japan, and Latin America. These initiatives are generating significant
`interest in our efforts.
`
`As you know Japan represents a key orphan drug market opportunity outside the U.S. Recently Japan’s
`Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare selected Gattex as one of 10 high priority drugs for an unmet
`medical need. This is critical step in locating a positive regulatory pathway. We also preparing to file for
`orphan drug status in Japan later this year and we have scheduled a meeting this summer with Japan’s
`pharmaceutical and medical device agency to discuss our regulatory path.
`
`So to summarize, we are making terrific progress with our international build out, which is a top
`organizational priority, and we remained highly confident that the foundation we are putting in place will
`deliver significant growth in 2015 and for many years beyond.
`
`With that I’ll turn the call over back to Francois.
`Francois Nader
`
`Thank you, Eric. The four strategic corporate priorities covered today is the pipeline we are building to
`drive our longterm growth. Our team reached an important milestone this quarter with the filing of an IND
`for NPSP795 in autosomal dominant hypocalcemia. We are on target to initiate our Phase 2a proofof
`concept study by Nadir.
`
`As a reminder ADH is a lifelong genetic disorder that is caused by mutations of the calciumsensing
`receptor, which plays a major role in calciumhomeostasis. Patients with ADH continue to excrete calcium
`in their urine because their receptor always senses that there serum calcium is too high. ADH can prevent
`immediately post birth with severe hypocalcemia, which can cause life threatening neonatal complications
`such as; target arrhythmias, seizures, or laryngeal spasms.
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`In adults, ADH is typically characterized by hypocalcemia with low concentrations of PTH and high levels of
`urine calcium. Clinically there is a significant increase risk for renal complications including
`nephrocalcinosis and impaired renal function. There is no approved treatment for ADH and NPSP792 is
`antagonist of calciumsensing receptor and could be first treatment specifically targeting the mutation.
`
`We are also expanding our Short bowel syndrome franchise with our pediatric clinical program. Gattex
`could answer a significant unmet medical need for children with Short Bowel Syndrome given the
`comorbidities and daily living challenges associated with life long parenteral support along with a significant
`healthcare burden to society.
`
`Our global study of Gattex in pediatric Short Bowel Syndrome is progressing and have completed
`enrollment of the first cohort.
`
`So in summary, we are focused on achieving our vision of becoming the world’s premier orphan drug
`business. We are very confident in the growth prospects of Gattex investors, we are actively building our
`international presence. We are preparing for the launch of our second orphan product Natpara and behind
`these programs we are advancing our clinical pipeline to drive longterm success
`
`With that, I’ll turn the call to Luke for his financial reports. Luke?
`
`Luke M. Beshar
`
`Thanks, Francois and again good morning. From a financial perspective, NPS Pharma continues to be in
`terrific shape. Despite some weather related challenges we achieved approximately $18 million in sale of
`the Gattex and we feel very good about delivering our revised full year guidance of $100 million to $110
`million of net global sales for Gattex or Revestive.
`
`Our Sensipar royalties are an important driver in the first quarter bringing in more than $23 million of
`revenue. To remind you, under the repayment terms of our royalty advance from Amgen. On May 15, we’ll
`receive a $15 million cash payment, in the Amgen we withhold the remaining $8 million to repay interest
`and principal. We continue to anticipate that we will fully repay the remaining advance of $48 million by the
`end of the third quarter of next year.
`
`Get to that we will receive 100% of our Sensipar royalties through March 28 in the U.S. and through the
`end of 2018 for the rest of the world. With annual sales of Sensipar now exceeding $1 billion our revenues
`from Sensipar provides some tremendous financial flexibility for NPS for the coming years. We also
`receive a cash royalty from Janssen sales for NUCYNTA, which for the quarter was approximately
`$600,000.
`
`Moving to the expense side of the P&L, cost of sale were $2 million, roughly 11% of sales consisting
`primarily of royalties and packaging costs. As you may recall, the product currently being used to support
`the introduction of Gattex was manufactured (indiscernible) and therefore expense to R&D. During the first
`few years of sales, this will result in the benefit to our gross margin. And while the preapproval product is
`consumed we expect the gross margin on Gattex to normalize to approximately 80%.
`
`First quarter research and development expenses was $21 million representing an increase of
`approximately $5 million from the same quarter last year. The primary driver of these brands was a credit
`in 2013 from the close out of certain clinical trials, and to a lesser extend an increase in regulatory activities
`in Natpara in 2014.
`
`For the first quarter, SG&A expenses were $25 million versus approximately $14 million last year. This
`increase is attributable to the activities to support the launch of Gattex, prelaunch initiatives for Natpara
`and the build up of our international business. We continue to maintain a strong financial position and
`ended the quarter with approximately $176 million in cash, which leaves us very well capitalized to globally
`commercialize both Gattex and Natpara and to advance new pipeline of opportunities for growth.
`
`So to summarize the first quarter financial results, we’re confident in the growth prospects for Gattex and
`Revestive for 2014 and well beyond. We believe that Natpara will be the second significant major sales
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`driver for NPS Pharma, and our team is focused on advancing the regulatory process for this drug. We
`have a number of key pipeline initiatives in place to deliver growth beyond Gattex and Natpara, including
`our development programs for Gattex in pediatric SBS and 795 in ADH.
`
`And finally we enjoy the financial strength to allow us to execute on these initiatives.
`
`That concludes this morning’s prepared remarks. At this time I would like turn the call back over to our
`operator to begin the Q&A session. Operator, you take it from here please.
`QuestionandAnswer Session
`Operator
`
`Thank you. (Operator Instructions) Your first question comes from the line of Geoff Meacham from
`JPMorgan. Please proceed.
`Geoffrey C. Meacham JPMorgan Securities LLC
`
`Good morning, Francois. Thanks for taking the question.
`
`Francois Nader
`
`Good morning, Geoff.
`Geoffrey C. Meacham JPMorgan Securities LLC
`
`Just a few on Gattex demands. Any metrics you can give us about the March, April rebound and how that
`compares to either 4Q or early 1Q. And then, the second question would be just trying to reconcile the
`guidance change. Was it purely 1Q or were there changes to your assumptions for this year for
`discontinuations, or new scripts, or things like that? Thanks.
`Francois Nader
`
`Thank you, Geoff. Well, it is the situation despite a slow start in January and February, we saw a rebound
`in March and April. The rebound could be characterized in three or four different ways. The first is we’ve
`seen a rebound in prescriptions and we’ve seen also an increase in dispenses. We also saw a nice
`shortening of the time to dispense, and an improvement in our cure rate. So when we look at our internal
`metrics, we are confident that we are rebounding, and the potential of Gattex is still very much there, so
`much so that we have decided to invest in the franchise. As I said it a minute ago, we are increasing our
`sales organization, we are increasing our outreach awareness marketing activities.
`
`So, we believe in the strength of the Gattex franchise and frankly the feedback that we are getting from the
`field is very encouraging. So we had a limp at the beginning of the year and off we go. And we’ll
`compensate and continue building our franchise. The challenge though is when dealing with small
`numbers. The unfortunate, if you will, January and February, we will have to carry those forward. And
`every patient that did not start in January, actually they start in March or April we already lost three or four
`months. So that is the situation. But overall we are confident, we are very optimistic and we are investing
`accordingly.
`Geoffrey C. Meacham JPMorgan Securities LLC
`
`And just on the guidance change?
`Francois Nader
`
`Well, the guidance again. I mean original guidance was $110 million to $120 million related to $100 million
`to $110 million, and we are a company if we adopt a conservative approach or a realistic approach. Some
`of the loss of revenues that we incurred in January and February will be difficult to compensate for in the
`balance of the year, if we can do better than that we’ll do it, but we prefer one more time to UnderPromise
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`and OverDeliver.
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`NPS Pharmaceuticals' (NPSP) CEO Francois Nader on Q1 2014 Results Earnings Call Transcript | Seeking Alpha
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`Geoffrey C. Meacham JPMorgan Securities LLC
`
`Okay, thank you.
`Francois Nader
`
`Thank you.
`
`Operator
`
`Thank you. The next question comes from the line of Navdeep Singh from Goldman Sachs. Please
`proceed.
`Navdeep Singh – Goldman Sachs & Co.
`
`Thanks for taking my questions. So, based on other biotech earnings, I haven’t heard weather to be a
`major impact on other drugs, whether it be orphan drugs, or cancer drugs, or what have you during the
`quarter. Is there anything in the mix or in the channels where weather would impact Gattex
`disproportionately versus other drugs? And then I have a couple of followups? Thanks.
`Francois Nader
`
`Yes, I mean the two reasons after doing a very thorough forensic work as to what happened January,
`February. It could be, one, weather, and second, discontinuation. Remember that Gattex is, is an
`interesting drug because when physicians prescribe then patients have to undergo a colonoscopy. They
`have to under go blood work and then the drug is dispensed and we follow very quickly with a visit from a
`nurse to initiate the treatment. So in many ways it’s labor intensive. There are many steps in between
`versus other drugs where it is simply a prescription and they go to the pharmacy and get their product.
`That is slightly different.
`
`From this perspective, frankly all these elements have to happen in sequence. Short Bowel Syndrome is a
`chronic condition and it’s not a life threatening condition, so with any other chronic conditions frankly
`patients can be defer their visit, they can defer starting on Gattex, they can defer doing the tests in
`between. That’s where we saw the impact on the weather.
`
`The other aspect which is very practical for us is given the fact that we have 25 sales reps out there, they
`travel a lot and they raise quite a significant foot shoe time. And given the conditions they were not able to
`do their job, they were out of the field for way too many days. So this is why we decided to increase the
`sales force, among other things to limit if you will, the geography and basically extend the market to other
`specialties. So each drug is different Nav, and this is the context of Gattex.
`Navdeep Singh – Goldman Sachs & Co.
`
`Thanks for that. We are calculating there were about 61 business days in March. Do you know how many
`of those business days were impacted due to the weather? And then do you see anything else in the rest
`of this year that would cause you to lower guidance again?
`Francois Nader
`
`Yes, I mean probably every referring to January and February in terms of number of days. I don’t think we
`will quantify the days in and out. That is way too complicated. As I said, we are quite optimistic for the
`balance of the year and more importantly, actually, for the franchise. The feedback that we are getting
`from patients and physicians are very encouraging. The feedback that we are getting from payers is very
`encouraging, as well. This is why despite the fact that we have reduced the guidance by 8% or 9% we’re
`continuing to invest in growing Gattex and growing its potential.
`Navdeep Singh – Goldman Sachs & Co.
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`Okay, and then my final question is on EU. Do have any sense of how EU authorities, I guess in Germany
`are viewing the profile of Gattex and the need of Gattex? Is Germany pushing back in any way? And how
`much of your guidance is from EU?
`Francois Nader
`
`I answer the second part of your question and Eric will answer the first part. Our projected revenues from
`exU.S. in 2014 is very small. We did not quantify it, but the vast majority of our revenues in 2014 is
`coming from the U.S., and Eric could you address the Germany question?
`Eric Pauwels
`
`Yes. We haven’t actually submitted the AMNOG dossier. We are actually in the process of strengthening
`the value proposition by including new real world data, as well as strengthening some of the longterm data
`that we have. So we haven’t had any direct push back, what we done is a very thorough landscape
`analysis of AMNOG dossiers that have actually been filed and the ones that have been successful to really
`shore up the gap. We anticipate that we would file with AMNOG in the fall and that process is when the
`launch would actually begin.
`
`Navdeep Singh – Goldman Sachs & Co.
`
`Okay, thanks for all the color.
`Operator
`
`Thank you. Your next question comes from the line of David Friedman from Morgan Stanley.
`David Friedman – Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC
`
`Hi, thanks for taking my question. I was wondering, if you could just talk a little bit about the
`discontinuations. And in terms of the discontinuations in the first quarter, what was just kind of
`characteristic with these people that had no benefit or a submaximal benefit and they just didn’t find it to
`be worth it? Can you comment at all on what you are seeing in terms of discontinuations in you know
`March, April and early May versus what you might have seen in January and February? Thanks.
`
`Francois Nader
`
`Yes. Thank you, David. The reasons for the discontinuation is really all of the above. Discontinuations can
`happen traditionally because of adverse events, whether it’s abdominal dissension, abdominal pain, and
`nausea vomiting discontinuations usually happen early in the process when patients are on Gattex on
`month two or three.
`
`What we learned from our clinical experience which is confirmed now by our really hands on feel
`experience, it looks like that over time adverse events tend to diminish. For many of these patients it
`becomes a nonissue. Some of the discontinuations are coming from adverse events.
`
`Other are coming from the fact that there are patients who do not like needles, so they try it and frankly it
`doesn’t work for them. We have a number of patients who discontinue because they haven’t seen good
`enough effect and others who might have discontinued because they have seen a weaning.
`
`And last, but certainly not least, and probably an important underlying cause of discontinuation is the fact
`that we are dealing with sick patients. These patients tend go to the hospital from time to time, and it is not
`unusual for Gattex to be discontinued when patients are hospitalized.
`
`But also remember that Short Bowel is a condition of the condition and is not unusual at all when patients
`have a flare. If they are Crohn’s patients they stop Gattex. If they have any issues with atherosclerosis they
`stop Gattex. So it is a wide variety of reasons. Given the small number, it was very difficult for us to pin
`point a specific trend or key leading cause, if you will, in January and February. Remember though that we
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`had a number of patients that were put on Gattex actually in the last quarter, whether it is related or not,
`we do not know.
`
`Now the silver lining in all this is the fact that the discontinuations were 10% last year. We project that it will
`eventually level at 20% to 30%. We’re not there yet, we’re getting there, but we are certainly not in the
`20% to 30% range yet, which we are much, much lower than that, so we are and again, I mean it is a
`process and because of the small numbers a small variation here and there makes a difference. This is
`probably what happened in January and February.
`
`David Friedman – Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC
`
`Thank you.
`Operator
`
`Thank you. Your next question comes from the line of Tazeen Ahmad from Bank of America Merrill Lynch.
`Please proceed.
`Unidentified Analyst
`
`Hi, this is [Sara] (ph) on for Tazeem. Thanks for taking my question. So you mentioned a smaller
`contribution from exU.S. in 2014. Was any portion of the $18 million this quarter exU.S. and then does
`your guidance revision account for any potential concerns, given the timing change with Germany. And I
`guess you still have expectations for meaningful sales in the second half of the year?
`
`Luke M. Beshar
`
`Yes, Sara this is Luke Beshar. The answer to first question is, there is real revenues in the first quarter
`attributable to exU.S. activities, and our full year guidance does reflect the delay that we invoked on the
`German filing for the reasons that Eric articulated. So that is all fully baked into the revised guidance.
`Unidentified Analyst
`
`Okay, and then what kind of price discounts are you expecting exU.S.?
`Luke M. Beshar
`
`Well, we have not publicly speaking or guiding on that. But what we have said and we continue to believe
`and continue see is that we expect exUS so least in the initial countries that we launch, to net pricing to be
`in the very narrow band to U.S. pricing.
`
`Unidentified Analyst
`
`Okay, and then, on just the U.S. market, when do you expect the new reps to become productive? I guess
`when will they be fully in the field?
`
`Francois Nader
`
`Sara, I’ll ask Paul to answer this question. Paul?
`Paul Firuta
`
`We are in the process of hiring the field force now. We expect them to be fully onboard in July, but not
`really effective for probably 90 to 120 days need to become familiar with their territory there and be trained.
`So we we’ll see modest impact for in the fourth quarter this year from the new sales force.
`Unidentified Analyst
`
`Okay, thank you. And then do you plan to expand your alliances with the home infusion providers? I
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`NPS Pharmaceuticals' (NPSP) CEO Francois Nader on Q1 2014 Results Earnings Call Transcript | Seeking Alpha
`12/22/2015
`believe you originally had five. Do you rely on them to gain market share, or was that just in the initial
`launch?
`Francois Nader
`
`So we still have five partners in the home infusion business. We’re monitoring whether or not we will
`eventually need to increase the number. These partners have delivered and we are very pleased with the
`relationship we have established with them, both distributors and ha