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Healthcare - Drug Manufacturers - Specialty & Generic - NASDAQ - US
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EARNINGS CALL TRANSCRIPT
EARNINGS CALL TRANSCRIPT 2016 - Q2
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Executives

Lisa Wilson - Investor Relations Scott Tarriff - President and Chief Executive Officer David Riggs - Chief Financial Officer.

Analysts

Ashley Ryu - RBC Capital Markets Sameer Singh - Piper Jaffray Tim Lugo - William Blair.

Operator

Good morning. My name is Keith, and I will be your conference operator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to the Eagle Pharmaceuticals Second Quarter 2016 Earnings Results Conference Call. All lines have been placed on mute to prevent any background noise. After the speakers' remarks, there will be a question-and-answer period.

[Operator Instructions] As a reminder, this conference call is being recorded, today, August 9, 2016. It is now my pleasure to turn the floor over to Lisa Wilson, you may begin..

Lisa Wilson

Thank you, Keith. Welcome to the Eagle Pharmaceuticals' second quarter 2016 earnings call. This is Lisa Wilson, Investor Relations for Eagle Pharmaceuticals. With me on today's call are Scott Tarriff, President and Chief Executive Officer; and David Riggs, Chief Financial Officer.

This morning the Company issued a press release detailing financial results for the three months ended June 30, 2016 and another detailed results of Eagle’s meeting with the FDA regarding Ryanodex for exertional heat stroke.

These can be accessed through the Investors section of the Eagle website at eagleus.com, and you can also access the webcast of this call from there.

Before we get started, I would like to remind everyone that any statements made on today's call that express a belief, expectation, projection, forecast, anticipation or intent regarding future events and the Company's future performance may be considered forward-looking statements as defined by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act.

These forward-looking statements are based on information available to Eagle Pharmaceuticals management as of today, and involve risks and uncertainties including those noted in this morning's press release and our filings with the SEC. Such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance.

Actual results may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. Eagle Pharmaceuticals specifically disclaims any intent or obligation to update these forward-looking statements except as required by law.

A telephone replay will be available shortly after completion this call; you will find the dial-in information in today's press release. The archived webcast will be available for one year on our website at eagleus.com. For the benefit of those who may be listening to the replay our archived webcast, this call was held and recorded on August 9, 2016.

Since then, Eagle may have made announcements related to the topics discussed, so please reference the Company's most recent press releases and SEC filings. And with that, I'll turn the call over to Eagle's CEO, Scott Tarriff.

Scott?.

Scott Tarriff

Thank you, Lisa, and good morning everyone. Nearly ten years ago, when we began our efforts at Eagle, our goal was simple. We wanted to take existing commercially available injectable products and make them better.

By utilizing the 505(b)(2) regulatory pathway, we identified a way to get our improved injectables to markets faster and at a lower cost than traditional drug development programs.

With Ryanodex, BENDEKA and Argatroban, now commercially available, a promising pipeline of additional products and a growing position, we have proven that our process works and that we can repeat it successfully. We are optimistic regarding Eagle’s future.

During the quarter, we gained clarity on BENDEKA and its associated cash flows through 2019 and we are confident in our ability to continue to drive growth beyond 2019. BENDEKA’S sales are ramping up with 80% of the market converted. We now have significant earnings from BENDEKA that are highly predictable for at least the next 3.5 years.

Following our positive meeting with the FDA, we have an agreement on the NDA submission requirements for exertional heat stroke. No additional human studies will be necessary and assuming positive results upon completion of our animal work, we will be able to submit the completed NDA for exertional heat stroke.

If approved, we are hopeful of being the first to market with a potentially life saving treatment option or EHS next year. In addition, we signed an agreement that reduces our royalty obligation for Ryanodex from 15% to 3% enhancing our future earnings for the product.

We are also partnering with the NIH to investigate the potential of Ryanodex to treat Ecstasy and Methamphetamine intoxication and have an exciting pipeline of additional product candidates. We also look forward to sharing some of the details of our pipeline with you during our first Investor Day, which will be held later this year.

More to come on this as we get closer to the event. Lastly, I’d like to point out that we announced second quarter revenue of $40.9 million earnings of $0.80 per diluted share, cash and receivables of $127.6 million and no debt. We are focused on optimizing the deployment of our capital on behalf of our shareholders.

The Board has taken two actions that reflect the very good return on capital with the purchase of the Ryanodex royalty obligation I just mentioned and a buyback of up $75 million of Eagle’s common stock. With this as a backdrop, I would like to turn the call over to David to update you on our second quarter financial results.

David?.

David Riggs

Thank you, Scott. For the second quarter of 2016, as Scott mentioned, our revenues totaled $40.9 million, compared to $6 million in the second quarter of 2015. The revenue mix consisted of product sales, royalty revenues and license and other income. As I mentioned last quarter, we include two components on our income statement for BENDEKA revenue.

In addition to the royalty revenue, BENDEKA is accounted for as part of product sales and cost of revenues. When we ship inventory to Teva’s distribution center, Taiyo passes to Teva and we record the transfer price essentially at our cost. This shows up as product sales. In the second quarter, we recorded BENDEKA product sales of $3.3 million.

We also recorded BENDEKA cost of revenue for the inventory we shipped to Teva of approximately $3.3 million.

Overall, total product sales reflecting all Eagle products increased $5.9 million to $9.6 million during the quarter as a result of $3.3 million in net product sales of BENDEKA as I just mentioned, an incremental $2 million in sales of Ryanodex, $600,000 in net sales of Docetaxel, and increases in net sales of Argatroban offset by a decrease in diclofenac-misoprostol sales.

Royalty income increased $29 million to $31.3 million, compared to $2.3 million in the prior year quarter as a result of the launch of BENDEKA. There was no license or other income during the second quarters of 2016 or 2015. Recently, we purchased the majority of the royalty obligation on Ryanodex net sales.

We reduced our obligation from 15% to 3% in exchange for $15 million of cash. With our label expansion programs well underway, the buy down of this royalty obligation, which covers current and future Ryanodex indication could have a significant impact on profitability of the brand.

With the conversion of TREANDA to BENDEKA is still building momentum, we acted to slow spending during the second quarter. Our efforts were primarily focused on reducing or delaying discretionary spending on our R&D programs to lower our expenses. We also selectively delayed or eliminated SG&A spending.

With the ramp up in the BENDEKA conversion now on track, we expect to return to more normalized spending for the remainder of the year. R&D expenses were $3.7 million in the second quarter of 2016, compared to $5.9 million for the same quarter of the prior year.

The $2.2 million decrease is due primarily to the decrease in spending for bivalirudin and certain product reimbursements for BENDEKA offset by increases in project spending for the successful completion of the clinical treatment portion of the safety and efficacy study of Ryanodex for exertional heat stroke and other products – projects.

SG&A expenses were $12.1 million in the second quarter of 2016, compared to $5.1 million in the prior year’s quarter. Personnel-related expenses accounted for the bulk of the $7 million increase and were due to overall expansion of the business. We deferred hiring in Q2 2016 in response to unexpected market delays and the launch of our products.

We expect sales and marketing expenses in 2016 will ramp up as new product launches begin and gain momentum. Net income for the three months ended June 30, 2016 was $13.1 million or 84% per basic and $0.80 per diluted share as compared with a net loss of $8.2 million or $0.53 per basic and diluted share in the three months ended June 30, 2015.

On August 2, 2016, the Board of Directors approved a share repurchase program of up to $75 million. We believe this reflects the best use of our growing cash position at this time and is in the best interest of shareholders.

We closed the quarter with $75.6 million in cash and cash equivalents, $52 million in receivables with approximately $40 million due from Teva and $202.7 million in additional paid in capital. We had $107.8 million in stockholders equity as of June 30, 2016.

Before I turn the call back to Scott, I would like to address a technical matter related to our net operating losses. This will not affect earnings per share, but will have a cash impact. In the second quarter, we had some positive changes in the make-up of our shareholders’ stock holdings.

We are evaluating whether or not these changes have or soon will trigger a technical change of control as it is defined in Section 382 of the internal revenue code. Upon as Section 382 change of control, the company is required to amortize NOL utilization.

As a result, how we utilize our accumulated net operating losses of approximately $99 million may be impacted by the outcome of this process. Our preliminary assessment is that we are close to a technical change of control. We estimate that should we be required to amortize net operating losses.

It will be a cash impact of approximately $10 million incurred over the next few quarters. At this point, we anticipate that starting in January 2017, Eagle will amortize the remaining NOLs over the next five to seven years. We will continue to update you regularly on this. And with that, I will turn the call back over to Scott. .

Scott Tarriff

Thank you, David. As you heard, the largest contributor to our revenue in this quarter and the primary driver of profitability was BENDEKA. Our ten minute infusion time formulation of bendamustine. The second quarter reflects the first full quarter of BENDEKA sales by our marketing partner Teva Pharmaceuticals.

In Q2, Teva reported net sales of $146 million for BENDEKA. Our joint goal with Teva is to reach 90% market share. We continue to see momentum building. As of August 5, overall BENDEKA market share has grown to 80%. We expect to see continued growth and that BENDEKA will achieve its full market potential.

Furthermore, we believe Teva’s recent legal victory against generic challengers combined with the six Orange book listed patents for BENDEKA extending from 2026 through 2033 with additional patent pending will allow BENDEKA to be a valuable product for Eagle for a very long time.

Under terms of our agreement, Eagle has the right to take back BENDEKA in November 2019 in the event of the launch of a generic TREANDA and as BENDEKA has not received unique J-Code. In addition to BENDEKA, our bendamustine portfolio consists of a 500 ml formulation which we have the right to launch at any time.

We continue to evaluate the opportunity for our 500 ml formulation we look to and we will optimize our bendamustine portfolio over time. Now turning to Ryanodex, our unique dantrolene sodium formulation, currently Ryanodex is approved for the treatment for malignant hyperthermia.

Our sales force has been able to increase Ryanodex’s share of the dantrolene market substantially. During the second quarter, sales were up to $3.4 million, which was an increase of 81% over the prior quarter. We continue to see momentum and expect additional growth over time.

In July, we met with the FDA to discuss our application for Ryanodex in the treatment of exertional heat stroke for which we already have been granted fast track and orphan drug designation. As you may recall, we conducted a human study last year during the Hajj that showed very promising results for the treatment of exertional heat stroke.

As I mentioned in my earlier remarks, the FDA has indicated that it will not require any additional human safety and efficacy studies. Our ongoing animal safety and efficacy study is progressing well. But fast track designation gives us the option to file a rolling NDA which we are considering.

If the outcome of the animal study proved successful, we anticipate requesting priority review and have the potential to be the first drug to market for treatment of exertional heat stroke as early as next year.

Needless to say, we will do everything possible to bring this important product to the market next summer and to provide some additional color on the opportunity in the past few weeks, and otherwise healthy 12 year old boy in Georgia collapsed during football practice, a landscaper working outdoors at a hot day and several members of our military died from complications believed to be associated with exertional heat stroke.

Exertional heat stroke is the leading cause of student athlete death and non-combat military death. We believe Ryanodex could be a life-saving treatment option for the conditions for which there are currently no drugs available. We will speak at greater length on this topic during our Investor Day.

We are also exploring the potential of Ryanodex in treating brain hyperthermia caused by Ecstasy and Methamphetamine intoxication. We are working jointly with the National Institute on Drug Abuse, part of the National Institute of Health in this effort. Neither began a pre-clinical animal study this summer.

Our intent is to file an IND related to Ecstasy and Methamphetamine intoxication and ultimately meet with the FDA. We see considerable potential in our other pipeline candidates as well. Pemetrexed registration batches have been produced and our plans to file an NDA in late 2016 are on track.

We believe Eagle’s past decision enable us to bring the product to the market as early as the fourth quarter of 2017. Release on limited patent infringement lawsuit win may prevent current ANDA filings from launching until May 24 of 2022 in this $1.1 billion market in the US alone.

We see multiple opportunities in our pipeline to drive value beyond 2020 and are excited about the progress we are making on the R&D front. We intend to bring investors together later this year for Eagle’s first Investor Day.

At that time, key members of management as well as our development, clinical, medical and regulatory marketing teams will discuss each of our products in greater depth including the development path for Ryanodex label extensions.

We look forward to sharing with you the details of our pipeline progress and how our successful business model can be applied to other products in our portfolio. Last quarter, we received the complete response letter from FDA regarding our RTU bivalirudin product.

We continue to be in discussions with the FDA about the design of its study that would support approval of the product. At a minimum, this is likely to increase the cost and extended timing of this development program.

Before I wrap up my prepared remarks, I’d like to briefly acknowledge Mike Graves, who was appointed Chairman of Eagle’s Board last month and welcome our two new Board members, Doug Braunstein and Robert Glenning. Mike has been a trusted advisor and integral member of our Board since 2013 and I am delighted that he has accepted the Chairmanship.

I know that Doug and Robert will be equally committed to Eagle’s mission. Their deep expertise as strategic leaders in finance and healthcare will be pivotal in helping us grow even further. We are very fortunate to have them join our team at this time. I believe Eagle’s future is never been brighter.

We had clarity on earnings from BENDEKA through 2019 and are excited about what is on the horizon beyond 2019. We have multiple opportunities to drive earnings per share for the long-term. We expect BENDEKA will have value and bring it back in-house. The product attributes are strong and we believe our patents will protect the product for many years.

Ryanodex for exertional heat stroke, Ecstasy and Methamphetamine intoxication will provide significant value if approved for those indications. Our internal pipeline will continue to develop and as stewards of shareholder capital, we will continue to deploy our cash prudently. I am very proud of our team for the progress we have made thus far.

We expect to see continued traction on multiple fronts in the coming weeks and months. Final J-Code ruling on BENDEKA is expected in Q4, we will receive data from our Ryanodex animal studies and that should be available.

We have the option of submitting a rolling NDA for exertional heat stroke in any time and preliminary NIH data on Ryanodex for both Ecstasy and Methamphetamine intoxication maybe available as well allowing us to meet with the FDA to discuss a pathway for this potential indication.

We have built a solid foundation for growth and are focused on execution and we believe that Eagle is well positioned to deliver growth beyond 2020. Thank you for your support and for joining us this morning and I am pleased to answer any questions you may have. Thank you..

Operator

[Operator Instructions] And we can take our first question from Randall Stanicky with RBC Capital Markets. Please go ahead..

Ashley Ryu

Great, thanks. Good morning. This is actually Ashley Ryu on for Randall. It looks like the conversion rate has been a little bit slower than expected given the prior target of around 90% by May 1. You mentioned that you are still committed to that target.

What are you seeing now versus what the expectations were when the target has been set? And how do you – how soon do you expect to hit that target? And I have a quick follow-up..

Scott Tarriff

Thank you very much. Yes, it’s still little bit slower, but we are at 80% and we are pretty excited about that and I think Teva is doing a really wonderful job there. Extremely committed to the product. We have a lot of faith in their ability.

Just after you grow up for that 75%, 80% number, obviously, it’s a little bit harder to get all the way up to 90%. I can’t give you an expectation on when we’ll get there, but we do expect nice steady growth getting us up to the 80% target. .

Ashley Ryu

Okay, got it and... .

Scott Tarriff

I am sorry, 90%..

Ashley Ryu

90%, yes.

And then in terms of our launching the big bag, which you’ve also touched on you have the right to do that since May 1 and now that you see you are have already patient outcomes, can you talk a little bit further about what you are thinking about or as you look towards potentially launching the product, just about the study you are evaluating?.

Scott Tarriff

Yes, thank you for the question, the big bag. Well, it could be an important product to us. We are evaluating the situation closely, what I can say about the big bag is that, we are absolutely committed to an intent to optimize our Bendamustine franchise. And how the big bag will ultimately play into that, we’ll provide more updates as we move along.

Obviously, we haven’t launched that yet and as things change, we will certainly update everyone. .

Ashley Ryu

Okay, good. Thanks..

Operator

And we’ll take the next question from David Amsellem with Piper Jaffray. Please go ahead. .

Sameer Singh

Hi guys, this is Sameer on for David. Just two quick ones here.

First on BENDEKA, can you remind us how you are thinking about the opportunity in terms of volume share once generic products enter the market that is assuming that there is no J-Code and get – you take back the rights from Teva in late 2019? Also on Ryanodex and your meeting with the FDA, did you talk about a potential cost forward in Ecstasy and Meth overdose and do you have any color on what you got to do there to get that in the label? Thanks..

Scott Tarriff

Yes, thank you. So, what happens after generics enter the market on BENDEKA, obviously, I believe as everybody knows, at that point we have the right to take the product back and the profit switch is to 80% to Eagle. We believe that the product attributes for BENDEKA are very meaningful.

We are very focused on the ten minute infusion time instead of the 30 or the 60 minutes with sodium chloride reduction, the timing and so forth. But if you remember when we look at our clinical results, we have a statistical improvement in fatigue in chemo induced nausea and vomiting.

We are in the middle of conducting studies along with our partner to look at how the attributes will be viewed later. But we do believe that the attributes of the product will carry today and that the patent protection for BENDEKA will likely go on well beyond that 2019 date. Exactly how much would be retained and what price is still to be determined.

Having said that though, the breakeven point here is about 15% meaning that if 15% of the share state is a branded market, we would earn, give or take the same amount of money beyond the generic date is before the generic date. So we are very hopeful.

And there is a number of variables in between there could be that for some price discount we keep more share, because of the product attributes being as significant as they are. So I don’t think we’ve finalized our thoughts on the topic other than to believe that the value from BENDEKA to Eagle will be significant well beyond 2020.

In terms of Ryanodex for exertional heat stroke and Meth and Ecstasy, the meeting with the FDA that we had last month was purely for exertional heat stroke. We did not discuss the other indications with them and we will not do that until we file the IND. We do however expect to meet with the FDA hopefully still this year and have those discussions.

We believe this study requirements would be very manageable. It’s an acute use drug. So I don’t believe it will be an onerous study and our expectations to get through those clinical, we feel pretty good about our ability to get that done in a reasonable timeframe. We will know more obviously after we speak to FDA however. .

Sameer Singh

Thank you..

Operator

And we will take the next question from Tim Lugo with William Blair. Please go ahead. .

Tim Lugo

Thanks for the question guys. And I might have missed this, but regarding the buyback, how long is this authorized for and what are your expectations for putting it to work? And I also know previously, Scott, you’ve discussed acquisitions as a potential use of cash.

Is the repurchase program going to hinder your flexibility at all in acquisitions or have you been looking and you just don’t see a better place to put cash rather than Eagle’s stock?.

Scott Tarriff

Thank you, Tim. We will be in. We’ve set up the repurchase program to repurchase our shares. So we expect to start that process here quickly. The timeframe to get to the $75 million is open-ended. So, we will evaluate that daily and weekly. But our intention clearly is to buyback our stock.

In terms of acquisitions, we have a lot of runway here at the company. When you look at our cash position, our receivables, and the strength of the pipeline, especially now with the meeting with the FDA on exertional heat stroke and the support that we’ve had for BENDEKA, we believe that there is still quite a bit of opportunity for us.

We have obviously, a strong balance sheet that we can borrow as well. And so in terms of acquisitions, there are another ways to grow the company. We think our pipeline carries today, we continue to look, we have a good process here.

Obviously, we haven’t found anything yet, but I will say that, we do believe that the buyback of our shares obviously our belief is it’s a good opportunity for our shareholders by doing that. And we also believe we were very prudent and we think we struck a good deal in the buyback of our royalty for Ryanodex as well.

And as we look at opportunities to deploy our cash to strengthen our return for our shareholders we will continue to report back to everyone..

Tim Lugo

Okay, understood. And I might have missed this as well. It sounds like there are some animal studies underway for Ryanodex which needs to be completed before you can file for EHS.

Are you expecting that filing by year end?.

Scott Tarriff

Yes, so, we do. We’ve re-granted the hybrid rule if we all recall and so the Hajj study has been accepted as the pivotal human study for safety and efficacy. As prior – we were in agreement previously with the FDA was to conduct these animal studies. We are in the middle of that now. We are proceeding well.

It’s going to take us a little bit of time to wrap those up. We do have the ability and we discussed it our meeting with the FDA for a rolling NDA. So we can file the NDA pretty much at any time this year. We are going to do everything we can to get through the animal studies as quickly as we can.

We need to make sure they perform well and they are successful. We will do everything we can, Tim, to try to get the product to the market for next summer. We may or may not be able to do that. It depends also on priority review which we expect that we will receive. And so, why don’t we leave it at.

We are very focused on getting through the animal work and we are doing everything we can to file as expeditiously as we can. .

Tim Lugo

Understood. Thanks for all the questions. .

Scott Tarriff

Thank you. .

Operator

[Operator Instructions] And it appears we have no further questions. I’d like to return the floor to you, Mr. Tarriff for additional or closing remarks..

Scott Tarriff

Thank you, Keith. Thank you everybody for taking the time here this morning. Look obviously, we are excited about our accomplishments. We look forward to the future and look forward to further updates. Thank you again. .

Operator

And this will conclude today’s program. Thanks for your participation. You may now disconnect and have a great day..

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