
Biohaven touts surge in Nurtec sales ahead of Pfizer takeover
Forget buyer’s remorse, Pfizer is likely feeling pretty good about its $11.6 billion Biohaven takeover deal following reports of a 57% sales boost for migraine med Nurtec.
Biohaven reported in Q2 results on Friday that it’s cleared the necessary antitrust hurdles to move forward with the sale of its calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) assets to Pfizer. However, because the company is “focused on workstreams related to the closing” of the deal, it did not host a call with analysts and investors.
The company’s stock $BHVN was down less than 1% on Friday, pricing in at $146.96 per share.
The Pfizer deal is expected to close by “early 2023,” according to a news release. Aside from snagging the blockbuster migraine drug, Pfizer also gets zavegepant, an intranasal migraine therapy, and five preclinical assets in the deal covering the CGRP portfolio.
The rest of the portfolio will be spun out into New Biohaven, run by CEO Vlad Coric and his crew.
Nurtec saw a boom in sales, raking in $194 million in Q2, up 57% from last quarter and a 109% increase over Q2 of last year. That surge is mostly due to increased prescription sales from its oral Nurtec ODT and “favorable pack mix per prescription,” Biohaven said.
“Addition, we continue to see improvements in patient affordability / copay support needs as patients satisfy annual deductible obligations,” according to the Q2 report.
Nurtec ODT was initially approved in February 2020 to treat acute onset of migraine, then snagged another indication as a preventative in May 2021. Last month, Biohaven tapped reality star and businesswoman Khloé Kardashian to help market the drug as part of its “All in One” campaign.
Coric also touted an NDA filing for the intranasal zavegepant, which he said has the potential to deliver “ultra-rapid relief in as early as 15 minutes,” and address patients with nausea or vomiting who need non-oral treatments. The company is expecting a decision in Q1 2023.
Meanwhile, Coric said Biohaven have made “tremendous strides across our broader pipeline,” including a Phase I program in focal epilepsy and the Phase III taldefgrobep alfa program in spinal muscular atrophy (SMA).
“We are excited about the vast opportunities beyond CGRP,” he said in the Q2 report.
However, the New Biohaven vision became a little murkier when the company revealed a Phase III flop for the glutamate regulator troriluzole in patients with spinocerebellar ataxia. Despite missing the primary endpoint, Biohaven execs looked toward a post hoc analysis for a potential path forward in a specific group of fall risk patients.
Coric also revealed a net loss of $6.21 per share in Q2, including accounting derivative losses as a result of the anticipated merger. “Non-GAAP adjusted net loss1 for the second quarter was $3.82 per share,” the company said.