Jefferies updates specialty pharmaceutical market

By Lisa Kerner

Charlotte, N.C., Aug. 29 - Jefferies & Co. published updated data on companies within the specialty pharmaceuticals market, including new information on Noven Pharmaceuticals Inc., Shire, CollaGenex Pharmaceuticals Inc., Forest Laboratories Inc., Endo Pharmaceuticals Holdings Inc., Cephalon Inc., Connetics Corp. and ISTA Pharmaceuticals Inc.

According to Jefferies analyst David Windley in a report, Noven Pharmaceuticals/Shire's Daytrana and CollaGenex's Oracea posted 11% sequential growth in the week ended Aug. 18.

Total weekly prescriptions for Daytrana are closing in on 9,000 after seven weeks of sales force promotion, and the drug's share of the ADHD therapeutic category rose 10 basis points sequentially to 1.4%

Oracea prescriptions were up by more than 200 to 2,160, with cumulative volume since launch in the third week of July close to 35% of the analyst's September quarter forecast of 20,000 prescriptions.

Forest Laboratories' Lexapro and Namenda are on track to meet September quarter forecasts, while Benicar/Benicar HCT trails 1% to 2%. Lexapro is maintaining its share within the category. Namenda's market share is above 30%, second behind Pfizer's Aricept.

Endo Pharmaceuticals' sales force has been detailing Opana and Opana ER for the past three weeks, resulting in 150 prescriptions dispensed this week, up from 80 prescriptions last week. Lidoderm trails third-quarter forecasts by 1% to 2%, while Oxycodone ER is tracking 4% ahead of the analyst's expectations. Watson leads the category with a 29% share followed by Endo at 27.6%.

Cephalon's Provigil prescriptions show a lack of acceleration in year-on-year growth as Actiq falls further behind Jefferies' expectations.

Connetics' Evoclin total prescriptions increased 10% from last week to more than 7,300, and its market share increased 60 basis points. The topical steroid franchise, OLUX and Luxiq, is lagging September quarter forecasts by 2% to 3%.

Both Xibrom and Istalol from ISTA Pharmaceuticals are tracking Jefferies' forecast. Xibrom's total prescriptions are up 11% for the last three weeks, while the ophthalmic Nsaid category has grown 2%. Xibrom's market share has jumped almost 150 basis points in the past month.

© 2015 Prospect News.
All content on this website is protected by copyright law in the U.S. and elsewhere. For the use of the person downloading only.
Redistribution and copying are prohibited by law without written permission in advance from Prospect News.
Redistribution or copying includes e-mailing, printing multiple copies or any other form of reproduction.