Theratechnologies Inc T.TH

12,000 possible US Trogarzo patients?

[SPCEO1]

https://www.specialtypharmacycontinuum.com/Online-First/Article/06-22/Current-Options-for-Highly-Treatment-Experienced-People-With-HIV/67322

[PWIB123]

Love seeing this write-up today.  Get those patients!

[Bucknelly21]

Id be happy with 1k of those 12k

[SPCEO1]

All of us would but don't bet on it. If something like that number of patients were possible it likely would have happened in the first couple of years when Trogarzo was on the market without any competition.

[jeffm34]

I would like to see a cost comparison on the different treatment options. I think Taimed has priced the product out of the market like they have in Europe. Maybe try selling the drug at a reasonable price. If you cut the price in half could you at least double the number of patients? 

[qwerty22]

GSK generated $43 mil in sales of fostemsavir (Rukobia) in the first year They had much larger clinical trials and the difference between their sales and THTX could easily just be the number of patients that flipped over from getting the drug for free to buying it on the market when it got approved. If anybody is patient enough we can wait see what happens in year 2 to their sales growth. I

[qwerty22]

Just on where Rukobia sales are going. From what I can see GSK reported USA sales of $15 mil in 3rd Q and $14 mil in 4th Q. I guess 2022 wasn't quite a full year for this new drug. This is trogarzo's main rival for MDR patients that need new options. As I said their absolute number is higher probably because they started with a much bigger pool of patients from their clinical trial

[qwerty22]

ok, yes, I ended up down a rabbit hole of Rukobia sales. USA sales Q1 2021 $7 mil Q2 2021 $10 mil Q3 2021 $15 mil Q4 2021 $14 mil Q1 2022 $15 mil Got established (probably payor thing) then no growth over 3 Qs.

[SPCEO1]

Here is what  Bloomberg (Symphony) say Trogarzo and  Rukobia sales have been: [img]https://https://imgur.com/0bLWrF3[/img] [img]https://https://imgur.com/MsX5Uqt[/img]

[SPCEO1]

[SPCEO1]

I will try to get those copied in properly when I have a chance. Trogarzo monthly sales running near $2 million and Rukobia around $7 million.

[qwerty22]

I'm pulling numbers from GSK's quarterly reports. For example Q1 2022, table on page 24, definitely says 3 months total $16 million, $15 million US, $1 million Europe. https://www.gsk.com/media/7639/q1-2022-announcement.pdf

[Wino115]

I wonder if Rukobia pricing was the reference price that put Trogarzo below the floor price Taimed set. Not that any of this really matters at this point, but seems the Germans and Italians set a price above that floor, but France and perhaps others indicated it would be below that level, thus making it completely uneconomic for any distributor. It's basically up to Taimed to adjust their

[jeffm34]

from what can see Rukobia pricing in the US runs around $8000/mo. It comes in a tablet and is widely available at most pharmacies.   trogarzo I think runs closer to $10,000/mo it needs to be given by IV (which costs money as well) and is only available in specialty pharmacies.   If both products have similar efficacy why would anyone use trogarzo ? 

[SPCEO1]

First, in the US, pricing really does not matter much since the governement or a private insurance company is footing the bill. Patients and doctors should not really be considering anything other than the effectiveness of the drug. Second, ifan HIV patient is on a successful medication, they don't switch to a new one because the run the risk of losing it as a future option since the body

[jeffm34]

Unfortunately governments and third-party insurers have formularies and their main consideration is cost containment.  You could make a case that an injection or iv infusion is preferable to ensure adherence but I don't see the market for trogarzo getting much bigger.  I believe the market for egrifta has potential for good growth provided the company has good life cycle management.

[SPCEO1]

As I have noted many times, Bloomberg is not super accurate. I am not sure how they end up with rukobia at arounf $7 per month when the company states $16 per quarter though!