- Cubist presented at the Wedbush conference on 8/16/11 - link to webcast and other notes can be found on the Past Events page.
- CBST co-promotes the antibiotic Dificid with Optimer Pharma, see details on the OPTR research page.
- My notes from the talk are below:
- Cubicin launched in 2003, has been story of CBST, will be our growth engine into the future, we think this will be a $1b product in US alone before patent expiry
- We will have to fund expensive phase 3 trials before out next approvals in 2014-2015. Therefore we needed to bring in additional topline revenue in meantime (therefore, the OPTR deal), and we are looking at other ways to bridge to this future
- Comparison slides of cumulative antibiotic sales over time period following their launch...Cubicin ramp is higher than all others (not inflation adjusted...some durgs launched before/after it). Rocephin reached $1b, and Cubicin is tracking well ahead of this, so something must change for the product to not reach $1b, needs only 7% CAGR
- Cubicin is sustaining market share despite new product entries (12% share based on days of therapy)...it is continuing to grow share within gram positive...but 71% share still belongs to vancomycin...tremendous opportunity despite the fact that its share remains sticky
- Cubicin has almost 50% of sales in out-patient setting...very unique
- C. difficile associated diarrhea (CDAD) candidate...leaning heavily towards going forward with program [this is a direct competitor for the drug Dificid recently launched with OPTR, see this blog post for my thoughts on its phase 2 data and prospects going forward]
- MRSA market opportunity is much smaller outside US vs US, but gram negative market for CXA-201 is equal in EU vs US. This drug has "unprecedanted coverage of pseudomonas"..which is the reason for being for this program
- CDAD - diagnosis and motality are both on the rise. An area on unmet need in hospital.
- CB183315 CDAD candidate - oral agent with low systemic exposure - stays in gut. patent thru 12/2020 without extension, possible additional patents thru 2029
- Difcid - recently launched, our CB183315 data has been generally similar to OPTR, no differentiation "hook"..but we own this product 100%, would go into bag of exisitng commercial infrastructure..so costs of launching is low. Only one phase 3 trial needed. Doesn't need to be a blockbuster to be meanignful to Cubist.
- The bar for CB183315 product was set high by OPTR. '315 showed 50% reduction in recrruance vs Vancocin. We had hoped for differentiation on difficult to treat "NAP1" strains (but neither CBST nor OPTR showed this)
- We will take a look at the economics going forward, will announce go vs no go for phase 3 decison later in 3q2011.
- How to pay for these trials for CXA201 and possibly CB183315?
- Grow Cubicin
- OPTR deal - required no outlay of cash, just leverage commercial organization. $15m per year for 2 years, plus significant bonus for meeting targets, and % of sales above that
- During 2q2011 we increased guidance for topline revenue, R&D expenses, and cash balance (now $960m ye2011), and decreased guidance for operating income