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UNITED STATES
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ALKERMES, INC.
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This filing relates to a planned merger between Alkermes, Inc. and the global drug delivery
technologies business of Elan (known as EDT) (such combination, the Business Combination)
pursuant to a Business Combination Agreement and Plan of Merger (the Business Combination
Agreement) by and among Elan Corporation, plc (Elan), a public limited company incorporated in
Ireland, Antler Science Two Limited, a private limited company incorporated in Ireland, Elan
Science Four Limited, a private limited company incorporated in Ireland, EDT Pharma Holdings
Limited, a private limited company incorporated in Ireland, EDT US Holdco, Inc., a Delaware
corporation, Antler Acquisition Corp., a Pennsylvania corporation and direct wholly owned
subsidiary of U.S. Holdco, and Alkermes, Inc., a Pennsylvania corporation. The businesses will be
combined under New Alkermes, a new holding company incorporated in Ireland that will be
re-registered as a public limited company, and renamed Alkermes plc, at or prior to the completion
of the Business Combination. The Business Combination Agreement is on file with the Securities and
Exchange Commission as an exhibit to the Current Report on Form 8-K filed by Alkermes, Inc. on May
9, 2011.
The following is the transcript of an investor presentation made on July 18, 2011 as part of the
Alkermes, Inc. Analyst and Investor Day.
Forward Looking Statements
Information set forth herein contains forward-looking statements as defined in the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, which involve a number of risks and uncertainties.
Alkermes cautions readers that any forward-looking information is not a guarantee of future
performance and that actual results could differ materially from those contained in the
forward-looking information. Such forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to,
statements concerning the likelihood that the merger with EDT is consummated and the timing of such
consummation; future financial and operating performance, business plans or prospects of Alkermes
plc; the timing, funding and feasibility of product development activities; and the therapeutic
value of the Companys products. The statements in this document reflect the expectations and
beliefs of the Companys management only as of the date of this document and subsequent events and
developments may cause these expectations and beliefs to change. The Company undertakes no
obligation to update or revise these statements, except as may be required by law. These
forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing the Companys views as of any
date after the date of this document.
The following factors, among others, could cause actual results to differ from those set forth in
the forward-looking statements: the ability to obtain regulatory approvals of the transaction on
the proposed terms and schedule; the failure of Alkermes stockholders to approve the transaction;
the outcome of pending or potential litigation or governmental investigations; the risk that the
businesses will not be integrated successfully or such integration may be more difficult,
time-consuming or costly than expected; uncertainty of the expected financial and operational
performance of Alkermes plc following completion of the proposed transaction; Alkermes plcs
ability to achieve the cost savings and synergies contemplated by the proposed transaction within
the expected time frame; disruption from the proposed transaction making it more difficult to
conduct business as usual or maintain relationships with customers, employees or suppliers; the
calculations of, and factors that may impact the calculations of, the acquisition price in
connection with the proposed merger and the allocation of such acquisition price to the net assets
acquired in accordance with applicable accounting rules and methodologies; the ability to develop
sucessfully our products in a timely and cost-effective manner, including the risk that clinical
trial results for the companys products will not be predictive of real-world results or of results
in subsequent clinical trials; decisions by regulatory authorities regarding the companys
products; and the risk that the companys products may prove difficult to manufacture, be precluded
from commercialization by the proprietary rights of third parties, or have unintended side effects,
adverse reactions or incidents of misuse that could cause the U.S. Food and Drug Administration
(FDA) or other health authorities to require post-approval studies or require removal of the
companys products from the market. Additional information and other factors are contained in
Alkermes filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including Alkermes Annual Reports
on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, and other SEC filings, which are available at the
SECs web site http://www.sec.gov. Alkermes disclaims any obligation to update and revise
statements contained in these materials based on new information or otherwise. The Company cautions
investors not to place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements contained in this document
or other filings with the SEC.
Important Additional Information and Where to Find It
This communication does not constitute an offer to sell, or the solicitation of an offer to sell,
or the solicitation of an offer to subscribe for or buy, any securities nor shall there be any
sale, issuance or transfer of securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or
sale would be unlawful prior to or qualification under the securities laws of any such
jurisdiction.
In connection with the proposed merger, on June 22, 2011, Antler Science Two Limited, to be
re-registered and renamed Alkermes plc, filed with the SEC a registration statement on Form S-4
(commission file number 333- 175078) that includes a
preliminary proxy statement of Alkermes and that also constitutes a preliminary prospectus of
Antler Science Two Limited regarding the proposed merger. After the registration statement has been
declared effective by the SEC, a definitive proxy statement/prospectus will be mailed to Alkermes
shareholders in connection with the proposed merger. INVESTORS ARE URGED TO READ CAREFULLY THE
PROXY STATEMENT/PROSPECTUS (INCLUDING ALL AMENDMENTS AND SUPPLEMENTS THERETO) AND OTHER DOCUMENTS
RELATING TO THE MERGER FILED WITH THE SEC WHEN THEY BECOME AVAILABLE, BECAUSE THEY WILL CONTAIN
IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT ALKERMES, EDT AND THE PROPOSED MERGER. You may obtain a copy of the
registration statement and the proxy statement/prospectus (when available) and other related
documents filed by Alkermes, Elan or EDT with the SEC regarding the proposed merger as well as
other filings containing information about Alkermes, Elan, EDT and the merger, free of charge,
through the web site maintained by the SEC at www.sec.gov, by directing a request to
Alkermes Investor Relations department at Alkermes, Inc., 852 Winter Street, Waltham,
Massachusetts 02451, Attn: Investor Relations or to Alkermes Investor Relations department at
(781) 609-6000 or by email to financial@alkermes.com. Copies of the proxy
statement/prospectus and the filings with the SEC that will be incorporated by reference in the
proxy statement/prospectus can also be obtained, when available, without charge, from Alkermes
website at www.alkermes.com under the heading Investor Relations and then under the
heading SEC Filings.
Participants in Solicitation
This communication is not a solicitation of a proxy from any Alkermes shareholder. Alkermes and its
directors, executive officers and certain other members of management and employees may, however,
be deemed to be participants in the solicitation of proxies in respect of the proposed merger.
Information regarding the persons who may, under the rules of the SEC, be considered participants
in the solicitation of proxies in respect of the proposed merger is set forth in the preliminary
proxy statement/prospectus filed with the SEC. You can find information about Alkermes directors
and executive officers in its definitive proxy statement filed with the SEC on July 29, 2010. You
can obtain free copies of these documents as described above.
Final Transcript
Conference Call Transcript
ALKS Alkermes Inc Analyst and Investor Day
Event Date/Time: Jul 18, 2011 / 07:00PM GMT
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CORPORATE PARTICIPANTS
Rebecca Peterson
Alkermes Inc. VP Corporate Communications
Richard Pops
Alkermes Inc. Chairman, President, CEO
Elliot Ehrich
Alkermes Inc. Chief Medical Officer
Shane Cooke
EDT. EVP
Jim Frates
Alkermes Inc. CFO
CONFERENCE CALL PARTICIPANTS
Cory Kasimov
JPMorgan Analyst
Ami Fadia
UBS Analyst
Terence Flynn
Goldman Sachs Analyst
David Pearl
Epoch Investment Partners Analyst
Steve Byrne
Bank of America-Merrill Lynch Analyst
Jeanne Hynes
Wellington Management Partner
Mario Corso
Caris & Co. Analyst
Tom Brakel
Federated Investors Analyst
PRESENTATION
Rebecca Peterson Alkermes Inc. VP Corporate Communications
All right, everyone, thank you very much for coming to the Alkermes Analyst and Investor day.
As you know, we typically dont have these events in the summer, but theres been so much going on
at the Company that we really felt it was an opportune time to gather everyone and update you on
our progress.
Before we begin today I will remind you that we will make forward-looking statements under the
meanings of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1985. And I encourage you to read our
forward-looking statements in our SEC filings.
Further, and I apologize in advance for doing this, but I need to remind you that the presentations
and discussions today are not a solicitation of proxies from any Alkermes shareholder, or an offer
to buy or sell securities in connection with our proposed merger with EDT. Investors are urged to
carefully read the joint proxy statement/prospectus filed on Form S-4 and other materials filed
with the SEC because they contain important information about Alkermes, EDT and their proposed
merger transaction.
Final Transcript
Jul 18, 2011 / 07:00PM GMT, ALKS Alkermes Inc Analyst and Investor Day
Once deemed effective by the SEC, a copy of these materials will be sent to all of Alkermes
shareholders in connection with the proposed transaction and may also be obtained free of charge
from the SEC website or the Alkermes website. Please refer to the text of the full legend on the
slide today for more information. Its within all of your binders and also available on the
webcast.
Now, on to business. Im pleased today to be joined by my esteemed colleagues. Richard Pops will be
giving essentially an overview about the creation of the Alkermes of Alkermes PLC, and also talk
a little bit about the merger and how we believe theres a lot of layers of values. Rich excuse
me, Elliot will then talk about recent news flow just since we announced the transaction theres
been a plethora of progress across the portfolio. And I think when you look at it holistically its
pretty amazing.
Shane Cooke were delighted to have with us today. He is the head of EDT and will be incoming
president of Alkermes PLC, and were really pleased to have him here. And then Jim Frates, our CFO,
will essentially give you the elements needed to model the combined company going forward. And
after that well invite the guys up and we would happily invite your participation during the Q&A
so we can really have a casual conversation about the merger, and any questions that you have wed
be happy to answer.
So, without further ado, I will turn the podium over to Richard Pops.
Richard Pops Alkermes Inc. Chairman, President, CEO
Good afternoon, everybody. Can you hear me in the back all right? Good. Well, first of all,
thank you to everybody for taking the time to come here. As Rebecca said, its unusual for us to do
something in the middle of July. But, literally, weve been inundated with requests for information
about this exciting new deal. So were going to try to do three things today, and Rebecca touched
on them.
First, were going to try to just give you a sense from my perspective of what this combined
company looks like. I think a lot of people have the facile understanding of what it looks like,
but I think as you get into the depths of it, youll be impressed with the layers of complexity.
Number two, Elliot will just give you an update on all kinds of things happening in the R&D
pipeline. Were drinking out of a fire hose here and I think its in many ways indicative of what
were going to see in Alkermes PLC. One of the amazing things when you put two companies of these
sizes together with such a forward-looking business plan, we have so many variables between the
five major commercial products and the pipeline and the manufacturing and the
partnerships and all, that the news flow is quite remarkable.
And the number three is really pragmatic. Thats literally how to model this business because were
seeing all kinds of different approaches to modeling it. And the model has gotten a little more
complicated now with the combination into an Irish PLC, with the amortization of the purchase price
using purchase price accounting, a lot of non-cash stuff flowing through the GAAP line, with the
debt and so on. So itd be nice if everybody has their own structure in hand to be able to model
the business.
But what youll hear from us repeatedly is that were not interested in telling you how to model
the top line. You all are expert at that. But whats fascinating is what emerges from doing that
exercise is this idea of this portfolio, and how the portfolio itself is going to grow from where
it stands today into what it will become. So, my job is to tell you a little bit about some of
these layers of complexity. And weve talked about this within the Company of these various layers.
The first layer, I think, people have gotten by now. The deal if financially transformative. And
what youll see is the hydraulics of the P&L are such that from where we stand today in 2011 to
where well be in 2014, 2015, 2016 is that it feels like its going up. And well talk a little bit
more about that.
But the reason why its financially transformative is that we end up with this portfolio. And you
hear biotech and biopharma companies talking about portfolio all the time. But what portfolio
usually means is a combination of some here and now products, and a bunch of things that may occur
sometime in the future.
7
This portfolio is a commercial portfolio of major drugs early in their lives, with long expected
periods of exclusivity that are going to drive the growth of the top line for long periods of time.
And so, you can have decidedly different points of view. Within this room therell be people who
have models for Bydureon that peak at $500 million, and well have others that have models that
peak at $2 billion. And it doesnt really matter because when you put these all together in this
portfolio its difficult to see how the overall top line doesnt grow.
But whats interesting is that the five products didnt originate through some type of licensing
and specialty pharma approach. They originate from a really sophisticated capability to make drugs,
both on the EDT side and on the Alkermes side. For better or for worse, weve been doing this for a
long time.
We have invested a lot of time, a lot of sweat equity, a lot of years, in learning how to develop
innovative products, taking them through clinical trials, building manufacturing plants, gaining
regulatory approvals around the world, and watching these things move into the marketplace.
And I think the best predictor of our future success is probably what weve done in the past. And
were quite excited about the combined capacity of the two companies to innovate. And whats what
even more exciting from a management point of view, when we put them together its a jump ball to
come up with the best in class between both of the companies.
So, that is a really important engine. And when you push that engine forward in time, it becomes
more obvious, then, how important this corporate structure is going to end up being. We are
becoming an Irish PLC through this transaction. And we can talk a little bit about it and what that
means. As the top line and the bottom line begin to grow, things like tax rate and operational
flexibility become increasingly important.
And finally, and thisll probably be the homework assignment, we cant really see another company
that looks like this company when its done. If we do what we say were going to do, in any
reasonable approximation, what we end up with is one of the most differentiated and unique
companies in the whole biopharma space.
So, lets take these in turn. In terms of the financial transformation, this will become self
evident as you model the business. But the simple top line, we go from losing money to making
money. Thats a good thing. And we do so off of a revenue base that pro forma combined at the
outset is $450 million. So, this isnt a trivial sized company. This is a meaningful company, a
revenue base of $450 million, that we expect to grow. And Jim will take you through detail on that.
Itll grow not just at the top line; itll grow at the bottom line as well. And well be
introducing this term to you of adjusted EBITDA, which accounts for some of the non-cash noise in
the GAAP earnings, and as well as the expanding margins. And the margins expand for a pretty simple
reason, because our revenues are going to grow at a rate faster than our expenses are going to
grow. And we can manage the business to that end.
The reason the revenues are going to grow is not based on an expectation that FDA will approve a
certain number of drugs in the future. We have five major products now that are commercial stage
products that are driving that top line growth. And at the top of the list is this repatriation or
the uniting of RISPERDAL CONSTA and INVEGA SUSTENNA.
This removes the principal overhang in the marketplace with respect to RISPERDAL CONSTAs growth,
introduces into the revenue mix INVEGA SUSTENNA, which developed by EDT, an exciting product thats
going to grow the market for long-acting atypicals. And whats interesting, it gives us essentially
a pure play on the growth of the long acting atypical market. Which even with RISPERDAL CONSTA, at
a $1.5 billion worldwide, in the US represents less than 5% market share, of efficacious medicine
for the treatment of this disease.
So, that becomes, instead of RISPERDAL CONSTA being 85% of Alkermes on a standalone basis revenue,
now the combination of these two is a pure play into a growing multibillion dollar market. Ampyra
development by EDT, where EDT captures 18% of the top line. So, Alkermes PLC will have 18% of the
revenues from Ampyra around the world. This is a singular product in its class, and we think its a
surpassingly efficacious product for the patients that it benefits and its just in the beginning
of its lifecycle.
VIVITROL. You all are very familiar with VIVITROL. Launching in a new indication in the opioid
dependence indication, an indication where $1 billion of commerce is being done right now and where
we have a completely differentiated product. The first product
approved to prevent relapse to opioid
dependence in this patient population.
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Final Transcript
Jul 18, 2011 / 07:00PM GMT, ALKS Alkermes Inc Analyst and Investor Day
And finally, last but hardly least, is BYDUREON. And the story about BYDUREON is finally a
story where were leaving the regulatory drama behind and moving now into its commercial phase.
Just launched last week in the UK, our first patients are getting commercial BYDUREON now. Its
extremely gratifying to everybody in these companies that have been working on it for so long.
But this is a product thats on patent for a long time. It has amazing clinical benefits and its
just getting going. With the completion of the QT study, which Elliot will refer to in a little
bit, were on track to file again with the FDA in Q3. And I think were going to be off to the
races finally for this exciting commercial product.
And these products, as I said, its a portfolio. Most of them are on patent into the late teens or
into the 20s and beyond. Theyre critical products in their classes. And importantly for us, to the
extent theyre partnered, which they all are except for VIVITROL, they really represent some of the
critical products for our partners. So, INVEGA SUSTENNA and RISPERDAL CONSTA RISPERDAL CONSTA is
J&Js third largest pharmaceutical product.
Ampyra is the whole ballgame for Acorda at this moment from a commercial point of view. BYDUREON,
critical to Amylins success. And so, what we essentially are leveraging is the work of all these
other companies driving these brands into the marketplace around the world. Thats why, as I said,
the hydraulics of the P&L are such that if you believe that these products have a life ahead of
them, from where theyre starting in 2011 to where theyre going to end up, were just at the
beginning of the story.
That growth we think will continue to accelerate because of the pipeline that originates from these
organizations that have shown the ability to do it. Elliot will take you through this in more
detail. But were excited about the fact that weve got things like ALKS 9070, ALKS 37, ALKS 5461,
Meloxicam IV, and others.
And what you can see with the combined businesses at the scale they are, with an R&D capacity that
we have, at both the revenue the spend side and also operational capacity, with a portfolio like
this, we have the ability to make tough decisions.
If a product isnt meeting our target product profile, well stop working on it. We wont spend
money there because other parts of the organization are competing for those dollars, and were
excited to provide the dollars in places where theyre going to drive the most shareholder value.
Coupled with that, of course, is our ability to partner with these products to address territories
outside the US in a world where big pharmaceutical companies are increasingly seeking out products
that have been developed off of proven technical platforms. So, as the top line grows from $450
million to what it will become, and the bottom line begins to grow, of course in the P&L, taxes and
other things start becoming incredibly important.
This Irish structure was a major hurdle for us to consider, and in contemplating this transaction
with our colleagues at EDT, that decision then to leverage the 40 years of operating experience of
EDT in Ireland with a large manufacturing base in Ireland 500 employees in Ireland and become
an Irish company gives us amazing operational flexibility going ahead.
Obviously, tax rate is one part of it, but weve actually got the ability to access expertise
wherever it may lie. So for example, if it makes more sense to do R&D and development in the US
because thats where the talent lies or the patients lie or the sites are, we can do it in the US.
If it makes more sense to manufacture something in Ireland, we can transfer IP there and do it in
Ireland. Its a global company. We have that operational flexibility to source and domicile our
work where it makes the most sense. And I think thats going to become more and more important as
the Company becomes more and more profitable. And youll see that as you model it yourselves.
And so, finally, to that point I made earlier, we think we emerge as one of these really unique
companies. So you ask yourself how many companies are there that are profitable, rapidly growing,
with a late stage pipeline that emanates from proprietary technologies with proven utility, with a
CNS focus? There are very, very few.
And we think this area of CNS focus is a really important differentiating one for us because were
talking about areas of CNS that have proven tractable to new drug development, places like pain,
schizophrenia, depression and the like, not in completely new areas driven by novel biology or new
pathways.
9
So Ill finish up with this last point, which is this idea of what are the direct comparables? And,
again, I dont have an answer to this but I pose it to you really in a provocative way to think
about this as we go ahead. This is just a run that we did of companies with market caps in excess
of $2 billion. Theres two slides $2 billion to $5 billion, and $5 billion and beyond. And the
blue lines demarcate tiers of billions, so theres $2 billion, $3 billion and $4 billion on this
slide.
And theres these are by the time companies get to this level theres a couple observations you
would make. Number one, between the two slides there are very few companies. Theres just not that
big of a population of companies in these two slides. Number two is that a lot of them have
valuations that are still very speculative. Theyre being paid in advance for products that have
yet to arrive.
Theres very few of these companies that have a portfolio that are diversified, that have growth,
that dont have patent at the cliffs, that have the attributes that Alkermes PLC will have. Were
really thrilled that on a pro forma combined basis, given where the stocks are now, well end up at
about $2.5 billion pro forma combined coming out of the transaction.
And our view, as we look at the $2 billion companies and the $3 billion companies and the $4
billion companies and the $5 billion companies, it starts getting very thin. Theres a couple $6
billion companies, $7 billion, $8 billion, $10 billion. It goes very, very quickly. The scarcity
value of these types of assets is extremely high, and its part of the reason why were so
committed in the combined company with our colleagues at EDT to execute on the plan that we have in
front of us.
We have an operating plan that were building right now that were quite confident that we can hit.
This business has all kinds of starts and stops as you know, but what gives us enormous amount of
comfort is that we have so many variables now, so many things we can tune from a management point
of view, that were quite confident that were on our way now.
So, thats all with the dare to be great speech. Now, Ill stop there and Ill turn it over to
Elliot Ehrich, who actually will get into the meat of it all and tell you some of the updates on
the pipeline. Elliot?
Elliot Ehrich Alkermes Inc. Chief Medical Officer
Well, thank you, Richard, and thank you all for being here today. At my time at Alkermes I
dont think Ive been here in a phase where theres been so much activity going on. I think the
point I want to make is that its not frenetic activity. Its highly focused activity at driving
our portfolio and our platforms forward.
So Im really going to get into it quite quickly. What Ill do is Ill walk you through some
highlights, particularly the events that have occurred since weve announced the merger and then go
into some further detail on our key programs. Shane will also follow me and touch on some of the
EDT programs. But I think it should become quite clear the great progress that weve made in
bringing our products forward.
So lets look at the recent highlights, starting with RISPERDAL CONSTA where theres been an
important IP development. Our longest-running patent, its a process patent, and weve received an
extra two years Patent Office extension on that, so that brings that out now in the US to 2023.
With VIVITROL, we are approved now for opioid dependence in Russia. We were also, in the United
States, recently granted a patent that extends out. Its a use patent and it extends out to
2029. So, a very long period of coverage there.
BYDUREON was approved in the EU in June. Its been recently launched as Richard mentioned in the UK
and sales are already begun there. Importantly, that key data element, the QT study for the US
refilling weve announced a clean QT study and with that data in hand were prepared to go back
and re-file later this quarter. Theres also been positive data thats been presented on once
monthly, and Ill show that to you a little bit later on once monthly exenatide that was
presented at the ADA.
FAMPYRA, so thats the European name for AMPYRA, was recommended for approval by the European
committee. ALKS 5461 weve initiated a study in patients with depression. ALKS 33 we reported
data from our binge eating disorder. We got a clear result, and we made the disciplined decision to
discontinue that program. ALKS 37 were initiating our definitive Phase IIb study for the
treatment of opioid-induced constipation, OIC.
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Final Transcript
Jul 18, 2011 / 07:00PM GMT, ALKS Alkermes Inc Analyst and Investor Day
ALKS 9070 we reported positive clinical data and we plan to initiate pivotal studies by the end
of the calendar year. And INVEGA SUSTENNA theres been some early data reported by J&J thats
been quite favorable and a multi-center, multinational Phase I study is underway. So overall, I
think you see were making enormous progress, forward momentum with our portfolio.
So lets get into some of our specific programs starting with VIVITROL. So this is our proprietary
program with our new indication in opioid dependence. And I think most of you know that theres an
epidemic of opioid dependence in this country thats reached crisis proportions. Its in the news
media broad, really recognized Wall Street Journal, Time Magazine, CNN, New York Times. So,
its really become part of our national dialogue, this crisis.
But its not just the news media. The medical and research community is beginning to take up the
charge and investigate new ways to combat that. And theyre looking at VIVITROL as a real solution
to this opioid dependence crisis. And if you go on clinicaltrials.gov now and search for VIVITROL,
youll see dozens of studies being done with VIVITROL, many of them being sponsored by the research
community or the National Institutes of Health.
And what this means is that we should expect to see new data generated repeatedly over time, which
will continue to inform and substantiate the clinical use. So its very exciting to see the
community begin to take up the charge here and look at VIVITROL in a number of interesting ways.
And one area of particular interest is the Clinical Justice System. And we know that more than 65%
of prisoners meet criteria for substance use disorder. And in the treatment of opioid dependence,
theres a need for a treatment thats not addictive, that it cant be diverted or abused, and
VIVITROL meets those needs.
And so, here in particular is a study that was looking at re-arrest rates in the Missouri and
Michigan court system. And in this particular study there was a 69% reduction in re-arrest rates
associated with VIVITROL use. So, an important result.
Beyond re-arrest rates, theres also a real public health issue in terms of HIV and hepatitis
transmission in this population. And some of the other studies that youll see on
clinicaltrials.gov are beginning to address this issue as well. So overall, I think again, over
the next few years we can expect to see more and more data and clinical use. And well see the
criminal justice system as an important arena for increased utilization of VIVITROL moving ahead.
So in addition to the externally-sponsored research thats taking place, Alkermes are also
beginning some additional research. And were announcing for the first time today the initiation of
the VICTORY study.
So, this is a registry. Its going to be looking at patients who are being prescribed VIVITROL in
clinical use and there a number of important outcome measures in this study were going to look at,
particularly health outcome-related quality of life and health economics.
So when we take a look at all of this research thats taking place, the external and the research
that were sponsoring, I think youll see that theres these elements that are in place to continue
to build the understanding of VIVITROL, and really hopefully begin to provide an important solution
to this opioid dependence crisis.
So BYDUREON theres been substantial progress with BYDUREON over the past few weeks. And the key
point, again, as Richard indicated, is that BYDUREON has now moved from a development project to a
commercial product.
So in June, the EU Commission approved BYDUREON and its being launched on a country by country
basis in Europe. Indicated as well that just last week in the UK. Theres other crucial development
of tQT study showing clear results, unambiguous results, frankly. And were on track to re-file
this quarter with the FDA.
And then, layered on top of that theres progress in terms of enhancing and optimizing the product
presentation, including the once monthly data that was presented at the ADA.
So, lets start with a QT slide. And I hope this is the last time that we find ourselves presenting
QT data in this kind of a setting. Just to be absolutely crystal clear about this, Amylin met with
the FDA prior to the study and got full agreement in terms of the study design and the analysis
plan.
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The study looked at both therapeutic and supratherapeutic concentrations of exenatide and the
result was no increase in QT interval, and that includes looking at that data using multiple
correction methodologies. Furthermore, there was no correlation between exenatide concentration and
QTc. So theres a clear path forward for getting this drug approved in the US, and we should be
refilling quite shortly.
So again, on top of that, looking back only on the diabetes population, first of all its huge.
Its growing and its a progressive disease. And you can see there are, for example, 10 million
patients using oral agents. There are 5 million patients using injectable agents. This is just in
this country alone, and we know that these patients will continue to progress. Its clear that the
GLPs have a great opportunity to impact the treatment, and theres going to be a larger role as we
move ahead.
Also, within each of these large buckets there are patients that require different types of
treatment formats, and its really the basis of our work with Amylin and Eli Lilly in rolling out
these subsequent administration formats. So starting with BYDUREON where we expect US approval in
2012, layering on top of that is the dual chamber pen. And then, there will be ready-to-use
suspensions, a weekly ready-to-use suspension so no reconstitution, and then a once monthly.
And let me show you the data from the once monthly. This is data that was presented at ADA. And you
can see that with once monthly administration of the ready-to-use suspension you get the same
hemoglobin A1c normalization as observed with the once weekly BYDUREON. So, a very impressive
result.
And thinking about this and again, in terms of that landscape of millions of patients in these
various treatment designations, there are going to be patients who are not able to inject
themselves. And the once monthly format for them opens up the possibility of having that injection
done either by a visiting nurse or done at their healthcare provider. So, it could fit in very well
with a number of patients needs.
There are other patients, frankly, for whom having the once monthly injection means they dont have
to think about the fact that theyre diabetic for a month at a time. So again, another type of
patient population for whom once monthly might be just the answers.
So our partners plan to meet with the FDA in the second half of the calendar year to discuss Phase
III planning for once monthly. But on the topic of once monthly, lets talk about Alkermes once
monthly program, and this is our 9070 product. 9070 is our proprietary once monthly treatment for
schizophrenia. It leverages LinkeRX technology, and it converts in vivo to aripiprazole, which is
the active ingredient in the widely used antipsychotic ABILIFY.
It has a 21st century product presentation, so theres no reconstitution required Its
non-refrigerated, and it uses a small gauge needle. Its a novel composition, so we have
composition of matter, patents pending that should extend out to 2030 and perhaps beyond.
Now, I want to make it clear that 9070 is distinct from our microsphere products. Its a
proprietary chemical composition. It has a lipid tail. It has a self-disassociating linker and then
it has the warhead aripiprazole. And as you can see in this schematic, once its injected the
9070 molecule, it dissolves slowly. The tail gets cleaved off enzymatically. The linker
disassociates spontaneously, and aripiprazole is released into the circulation where it can travel
up into the brain.
And we recently completed a Phase I study in patients with schizophrenia. This was done in 32
patients. We looked at multiple dose levels, 150, 300 and 400, and we had key study objectives to
look at, the duration of action, the predictability of release and injection site tolerability.
And the results we were quite pleased with the data. We got some excellent PK. And I think
considering the fact that this is our first study with our new technology its really in some ways could be
considered a home run, frankly. First of all, you can see release of aripiprazole, as being shown
in this graph, extending beyond a month. So, thats important. That means that the dosing is
entirely consistent with a once monthly dosing format.
The release was dose proportional, and thats important in two ways. One, its important for a
clinician. They can know that as they go up in dose that the dose that patients receive is going to
be well-predicted by the dose thats administered. From a development perspective its important.
Dose proportional means that we can predict both the important PK parameters of Cmax and AUC
through a linear function. And we can use that data to then model expected concentrations, and not
all complex dosage forms actually achieve dose proportionality.
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Final Transcript
Jul 18, 2011 / 07:00PM GMT, ALKS Alkermes Inc Analyst and Investor Day
And in terms of predictability, you can see on that prior slide as well on the let me see where
that little clicker is on the error bar, so those are standard deviations. And you can see those
standard deviations are quite small and in fact we have a very favorable degree of inter-patient
variability. And frankly, the injections were very well-tolerated as well.
So we were able to take this data. We envision a product and you can see on the next slide,
where patients will be taking oral aripiprazole. Theyll be getting injections and within two weeks
or so theyll discontinue aripiprazole, and be able to continue on the long-acting injectable.
There wont be a need for a loading dose.
And on the following slide, you can see our predicted steady state concentrations of ALKS 9070 and
this looks a little bit like a cartoon. This is actual predicted data. Its highly it shows a
very, very even concentrations, minimal peak to trough variability within the clinical dose range.
And this is entirely consistent with this once monthly product format. So, again, were very
pleased with the data and with this in hand were going to move the program forward.
Now, the development program for treatment of schizophrenia is quite clear, and well be meeting
with the FDA in the second half of this year to discuss the Phase III program and the Phase III
study, which will include a number of validated outcome measures, including the PANSS scores,
Positive And Negative Symptom Scores, and the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale.
ALKS 37. So ALKS 37 is our proprietary treatment for opioid-induced constipation or OIC. And OIC, I
think as you know, is a big medical issue. Its caused by activation of the mu opioid receptor in
the gut tissue and it occurs in patients who are taking opioids for the treatment of pain,
which is a very large number of patients now in this country.
In the design of the ALKS 37 molecule, we were very deliberate. So first of all, its highly
selective, ALKS 37, for the mu opioid receptor. And we did this because we wanted to minimize off
target interactions and to have the most really the most safe molecule as possible by having
receptor selectivity.
And the other key parameter relates to GI targeting. So, ALKS 37 is specifically targeted to
interact with the GI tract. This is the tissue of interest, particularly the large colon, which is
slowed down in the context of opioid-induced constipation. And following oral administration, ALKS
37 has very low systemic exposure because we werent interested in causing opioid blockade in other
tissues.
And ALKS 37 is also peripherally restricted. That means it doesnt get into the central nervous
system. And that reason is that we absolutely did not want to interfere with pain relief of the
opioid antagonists being taken by these patients.
And heres some preclinical work using radiolabeled ALKS 37 that illustrates these design features.
On the left you can see ALKS 37 is specifically concentrated in the large intestine. That middle
bar there. And thats the site of action. On the right, youre looking at brain penetration. You
can see it doesnt get into the brain.
And then we took ALKS 37 into the clinic, and these are results from our proof of concept study in
patients with OIC. And we observed important clinical effects, so increase in spontaneous and
complete spontaneous bowel movements at 30 and 100 milligrams.
So, were excited by the data. We went down, we talked with the FDA, and were moving rapidly
forward with the program. And we have a Phase IIb definitive dose ranging study. Were just
announcing that for the first time today. The study will evaluate dose levels of 25 up to 150
milligrams. And when we get this data in hand well move directly into confirmatory studies.
So finally, lets talk about ALKS 5461 which is our functional kappa antagonist. This is an
early-stage program but its a really good example of how we leverage the pharmacology of existing
molecules.
Now in depression, there are a dearth of new treatments particularly for patients with
treatment-resistant depression. And I think youve all heard about the biogenic amine story. Whats
that? Thats serotonin, thats epinephrine, thats dopamine. And those stories have been very
important over the past years, but theyve really played themselves out at this point.
13
And theres a need for new alternative mechanisms of action. And there exists some substantial
literature and this is reviewed in the article, this is included in your background information, to
indicate that the kappa opioid system may have a very important role in treating stress and mood
disorders including treatment-resistant depression.
The problem has been is that theres not been good kappa antagonists for testing this hypothesis in
humans. And a number of large pharma companies have tried to make specific kappa antagonists. Its
proven to be quite difficult, particularly given the significant homology that exists between the
kappa delta and mu opioid receptors so getting a selective receptor antagonist has been difficult.
However,
with ALKS 5461, what weve done is used existing molecules to develop a functional
antagonist. So ALKS 5461 starts with Buprenorphine. And Buprenorphine is a partial mu agonist on
the right. And on the left, as you can see, its a potent mu antagonist. We then add into it ALKS
33.
So ALKS 33 is our proprietary opioid modular. Its a mu antagonist and its co-formulated in a
single sublingual tablet. And as you can see, ALKS 33 essentially cancels out or attenuates those
mu agonist effects of Buprenorphine, and it renders that combination a functional kappa antagonist.
ALKS 33 is unique in being able to facilitate this combination because of its high potency, and
also because it happens to be very well absorbed sublingually which is how Buprenorphine is given.
So, it permits a co-formulation as a single sublingual tablet.
So weve taken that combination sublingual tablet and we have a study underway. Its a Phase Ib
study in patients with depression. Were looking primarily at safety and we expect data coming out
shortly in this second half of the calendar year. Well use that data to develop a more formal
proof of concept study in the indication.
In addition to work that were doing with the combination, the National Institute of Health has
funded us with a several million dollar grant to study this combination in cocaine dependence and
this program is underway as well.
So overall, when we take a look at the portfolio, theres a lot of elements here. Theres a lot of
programs in play. And it shows you, I think, just graphically the number and breadth of
opportunities that we have as a combined organization. And well have the opportunity as we come
together to really put that portfolio together and use our approach to come together with a
succinct combined Alkermes PLC portfolio.
One thing thats not going to change as we come together as a combined company is our R&D strategy,
our underlying principles which are to pursue new and innovative products based on established
pharmacology, so leveraging molecules that we know how they work and understand their pharmacology.
And well also continue to use this expertise in CNS which is becoming more and more of a singular
strength of this company.
Layering on top is going to be our disciplined portfolio management in triage so it will continue
to be driven by data, and will be facilitated by programs again with known pharmacology that often
are a characteristic of being able to get to do a Phase I or Phase II study and very rapidly get a
read-out. And then derisk our program on that basis and make an intelligent go/no-go decision prior
to getting into later-stage larger development studies.
So, I want to thank you for your attention today. And Id like to hand over to Shane Cook, who will
become the President of the combined organization. Id just like to say its been a real pleasure
getting to know Shane as part of this process and Im very much looking forward to working with him
directly once our transaction closes. So thank you very much. Shane?
Shane Cooke EDT. EVP
Thanks, Elliot, and good afternoon to everybody. Its great to see such a full room of very
many familiar faces to me, and who Ive known in my time in Elan where I was the CFO for the last
10 years and Ive been responsible for the EDT business since 2007, a business that Ive grown to
know and cherish. And weve spent a lot of time within EDT working through the best strategy to
grow the business and to capitalize on the many opportunities that we see that exist.
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Final Transcript
Jul 18, 2011 / 07:00PM GMT, ALKS Alkermes Inc Analyst and Investor Day
So what I want to try and do for you in the next 20 or 30 minutes is to give you an overview of the
business model that we have been adopting and transitioning really within EDT. The portfolio of
assets that we have both in terms of the products that are in the portfolio, the technologies in
the pipeline that we have, and as well as some of the things that were doing on the manufacturing
side that I think will be interesting in the future.
I think the interesting thing that you need to keep in your mind when you think about EDT is that
it is a portfolio of products that have been built up over the last 40 years and by applying
technologies to improve existing molecules that are on the market.
If you take a step back, what were doing within the EDT business is developing and manufacturing
innovative pharmaceutical products that deliver clinically meaningful benefits to patients
leveraging the experience that we have for proprietary technologies. And thats a business that was
started in Ireland 40 years ago.
A snapshot of that company now, you can see that over the 40 years weve developed 36 products.
And, of those products, 21 of them are still on the market and still generating revenues for EDT.
There is a portfolio of products that have been on the market for 10 years, 20 years, and then
there are some recently launched products that we think will fuel the future growth.
Within the business model that we have, we do not have any commercial infrastructure and so all of
these products are marketed by our partners. We have a pipeline of products, 11 clinical programs,
and three of those are what we would call proprietary products. We have not yet partnered them. We
[have on] all of the economics. And then the remaining eight are partnered. And our interest is in
terms of royalties and all of the development and commercialization will be done by our partners.
And so, were leveraged to the upside there.
On the manufacturing and development side, we have two FDA and EMA registered manufacturing
facilities, one in Ireland where we have about 500 highly-skilled people that are manufacturing
products for six or seven different major pharma companies and then for a number of smaller
companies. And this is a business that weve been in for many, many years.
We have a similar facility a smaller facility in Gainesville outside of Atlanta. This is a
DEA-approved facility, where we manufacture Ritalin and Focalin and other products on behalf of,
again, some of the major pharma companies. And, again, this is a very experienced group of people,
very high compliance, and a business we think that there is a lot of leverage in given the fixed
cost-base that is there.
In terms of revenues, the business generates about $280 million in revenues and about $100 million
of EBITDA. And, again, we see that theres a lot of leverage in the business through growing
revenues while keeping our costs in tow. And thats something that youll see later in the
presentation that weve been very successful at doing.
Over the last 10 years, we had on average launched one new product each year. And thats important
when you look at the current portfolio of products where we have 20 or 21 products. Ten of those
have been launched in the last 10 years, so 10 of them have been on the market for longer than 10
years. So what tends to happen with a lot of these products is that they stay and continue to
generate business and revenues for a lot longer than you might think.
So looking at the business model, where EDT has really been focused over the last number of years
but has been moving more towards a proprietary model in the last five or six years is to apply
proprietary technologies that we have, the NanoCrystal technology, oral-control release
technologies, in order to improve existing molecules, generate new products that create meaningful
benefit for patients, and then to either partner those products or to license the technologies to
our partners to develop products on their behalf.
And then this business turns into generating revenues for us both from a royalty perspective and
also from manufacturing. One of the big attractions for EDT in this transaction, in this deal, is
it allows us to accelerate that transition from being a technology licensing company with a small
ability to do proprietary products to switching that to being largely proprietary products with
some small licensing. And thats something that weve been working to do over the last number of
years.
But being owned by Elan, it has proved difficult because all of the funds that come from this
business are invested in Elans biotechnology pipeline and also in supporting the debt. So, this is
a very attractive deal not just for Elan and for Alkermes which obviously the market has opined on,
but its also very attractive for EDT and for the people in EDT to become a part of the business
and to accelerate the strategic implementation of the plans that we have had in place.
15
So looking at the portfolio approach, over the last five years or so the EDT business has generated
$500 million in cash flow which as I say has gone to fund Elans pipeline and support its debt. In
the near to medium-term, we expect to see the portfolio within EDT change.
We will see some of the older products declining, but that will be more than compensated for by
near-term revenue growth particularly from INVEGA SUSTENNA and AMPYRA which have been launched in
the US and are going to be launched in Europe.
AMPYRA has just been approved or just received positive recommendation and is expected to be
approved later this month. And XEPLION has just been approved and is now, I think, on the market in
five countries in Europe. And, again, we think that those two products particularly will generate
very nice growth for the EDT business.
In addition to that, we have a pipeline of products which Ive mentioned and some of which Ill go
through with you in a bit more detail later on in the presentation. So, again, that will provide
further revenue growth.
Another area that we see that there is potential for revenue growth is on the manufacturing side
where we have excess capacity. And so, we can leverage that capacity in the fixed cost base to
generate additional revenues.
So when you look at the portfolio, you can see that there are some very nice and strong growth
potential coming in the next coming years and that will more than compensate for some of the
mature products as they come off patent and face generic competition. And when you combine that
with the very strong financial discipline in terms of the costs, youll see margin expansion coming
through into the income statement.
As I mentioned from a cost side, if you look back over the last four or five years, youll see that
the cost structure within EDT has been very stable, and that against a background of increasing
costs, particularly in Europe. And what we have been able to do is to try and develop a pipeline of
products with limited investment and to focus on providing a very high quality manufacturing
product to our customers. And that is something that is obvious from looking back over the last
number of years.
One of the areas of opportunity from this merger is that as we change our model away from being
more of a licensing technology model to more of a proprietary product model, the resources that we need are
different. And so, we see a very large opportunity there to leverage on the infrastructure that
Alkermes has in place and the clinical development expertise and that Alkermes has in place.
And so,
were able to reduce some of the resources that we have in the
earlier formulation and CMC space. And that we think will drive about $20 million in synergies out of this merger. And if
you look at that as a percentage of the SG&A and R&D spend that we have in EDT, its about 20% or
25% reduction. So, again, this is something that were quite focused on and will largely come about
from site consolidation.
So what Im going to do is touch on the products themselves, so were going to have a couple of
products that I mentioned from near-term growth in terms of INVEGA SUSTENNA and AMPYRA. Then, Ill
look at the portfolio maturing products together which will be declining, and just to give you some
flavor for whats in that portfolio. And Im going to touch on some of the manufacturing revenues,
before I touch on the pipeline in a bit more detail as well.
So AMPYRA and Rich has spoke about AMPYRA already. And AMPYRA is indicated for improving walking
in MS patients. And this is a big issue for most MS patients. It becomes an issue fairly shortly
after diagnosis. And AMPYRA has shown itself to be effective right across the range of disease, so
from early stage through to late stage.
It is a key focus for Acorda. It is their main product, and they are marketing the product in the
US with Biogen Idec marketing the product outside of the US. And obviously, Biogen Idec has a great
strength in the MS market and I think they will do a great job. It was launched in the US in March
of 2010 and is currently, after only 15 months or so on the market, is on a run rate of about $200
million which is something that I think Acorda should be extremely proud of.
Despite an initial decline in terms of approval in Europe, Acorda and Biogen together were able to
turn that around and have received a positive recommendation for approval and we expect that
approval to then come through later this month. And its also been approved in Australia.
Importantly, as Rich mentioned, this product has a long patent life, 2026 and 2025 in Europe. And
so, we believe it will have a long life and will generate revenues for us for many years to come.
Again, our share of the economics on this are 18% in terms of royalties. We manufacture the product
in our factory in Athlone. And analyst expectations are that this could be a $500 million to $700
million drug. Were working with Acorda on expanding out the franchise through improving the
existing product, and thats something that were very keen to do.
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Final Transcript
Jul 18, 2011 / 07:00PM GMT, ALKS Alkermes Inc Analyst and Investor Day
The next product, INVEGA SUSTENNA and XEPLION which its branded under in Europe. And this is a
long-acting injectable antipsychotic for schizophrenia. And its the first depot NanoCrystal
product to come to the market, something that were very excited about. It really complements
RISPERDAL CONSTA which is a twice weekly product.
The economics that we receive on this product are very similar on a net basis to the economics that
are received on RISPERDAL CONSTA. Interestingly as well, J&J or Johnson & Johnson are working on a
three-month depot. Its in Phase I. And we also, because its a NanoCrystal formulation, we got
similar economics on that.
So its a very attractive business for us to have and a share of the economics from J&Js
long-acting injectable products. And its not just RISPERDAL CONSTA, but its the one-month and
potentially the three-month of INVEGA. So this is a very important franchise. And when you take all
of these products together, and the actual depot market is expanding about 14%, 15% per annum, and
thats a very attractive business for us to be involved in.
If you look at the mature products, many of you who know me from Elan and EDT, will have heard me
say that this portfolio is transitioning from some of the older products to the newer growth
products. And thats whats evidenced from this slide, where you will have seen mature products
have declined from about $238 million to $186 million since 2011.
But that has been replaced by the launch and the growth in AMPYRA and INVEGA in particular. There
are around 20 products that are included in that portfolio. The $187 million is about 40% or so of
the pro forma combined revenues of Alkermes PLC. And we think that over the coming years, and Ill
bring you through some of those products, that that will decline to probably somewhere around $80
million, which will, at that time, be probably 10% to 15% of the revenues of the combined business
over the next in five years time.
These products are all at a different stage in their lifecycle, and some have had Paragraph IV
certifications against when the ANDA is filed, and they are products that we will watch very
closely.
Looking at the makeup of those products, again, this is the way the industry works. There is a
number of products that weve received Paragraph IV litigation are in Paragraph IV litigation,
ANDAs have been filed. Some have been settled, and some have not been settled, and we continue to
litigate.
And but again, from our experience, if you look at this portfolio, I think that in five years
time, well still be generating $80 million plus in revenues from this portfolio. And if you put
that in the context of the costs of running our two factories, and thats about $80 million. So
again, these will be while declining, will still be a meaningful source of revenues for the future,
and a good way to cover some of our fixed cost base.
And talking about our fixed cost base, our two factories have got capacity available to put more
products through. And this has been an area that, over the years, we have, on an ad hoc basis,
looked to bring additional business in with some success. We have products manufactured for Lilly,
and for Pfizer, and Merck, Novartis, and many other of the big pharma companies.
About a year ago, we decided to put a more focused effort on this, and we appointed a vice
president of sales to go out and actually market this capacity. And weve seen some very good
results from that and have signed up a number of contracts, one of which has been signed up in the
last few weeks with a major pharma on an existing marketed product that should generate $15 million
to $20 million per annum in revenues, once we get the product transferred into the facility in
Athlone.
So, again, we think that this is a way to generate additional EBITDA and profits from the cost base
that we have in place, leveraging the capacity that we have.
So maybe just finishing up on the pipeline. So the pipeline, as I mentioned, is a mixture of
products that we havent partnered yet, and those that we have, and all of these would incorporate
our technologies. And Ill go through a couple of these in a bit more detail, but just to maybe
highlight a couple.
17
MEGACE, in Europe. MEGACE is a product that is on the market in the US for cachexia and weight loss
and does about $70 million a year. Its marketed by Strativa. We have the rights in Europe, and so
weve filed in Europe for this. We think it could be a $50 million-ish product. We own all of the
rights, and an approval could come by the end of next year. Its not a big product, but its, I
think, one that we think could be interesting.
And then, I think, again, youll see that the three-month INVEGA SUSTENNA, XEPLION, is something
that we think could be very attractive, and is something that, I think, J&J said could be filed
sometime before 2015.
Maybe a little bit more detail on one of the proprietary products that have, Meloxicam IV. This is
indicated for acute pain. This is a its a NanoCrystal formulation. And what were targeting
here is to get a very fast onset of action, which weve seen 10 minutes with a peak analgesic
effect within 40 minutes. Were looking to get 24-hour coverage. The idea being to potentially have
opioid-sparing.
And this could be a very attractive market, as Elliot referred to, with the constipation issue. So,
if we can do that from another direction, I think this could be very interesting. There are 70
million surgical procedures in the US, and really the standard of care is opioid. So we think there
could be a very interesting place for Meloxicam IV, and, again, it could be hundreds of millions of
dollars in the markets potential, given some of the research that we have done.
Another product in the pain area, which is partnered Zohydro. And this is an oral
controlled-release hydrocodone. It could be the only single-agent hydrocodone product, and it
incorporates the SODAS Elans SODAS technology. And, again, this would address some of the
safety issues concerned with using the existing combination products with hydrocodone.
We licensed the product after a Phase II. So we brought the product through Phase II within EDT and
proof of concept, licensed to Zogenix, which is a small, listed company in San Diego, who are
focusing on pain. And should the product get approved, we will market this or we would
manufacture the product in our facility in Gainesville.
And our share of the economics is in the double digit percentage range if you include manufacturing
and royalties. And its patented out to 2019. And Zogenix are expecting the results in the Phase
III by the end of this year, with the filing in the first quarter first half of next year. So,
again, this is for chronic pain, and I think could be an interesting opportunity for us and again
is in the CNS space, which I think is something that I think is neat.
So to conclude, we are, within EDT the managers of EDT are very excited about this merger. I
think that when you look everybody that Ive spoken to who looks at this says, why wasnt this
thought about before? Its so obvious. And when you put the two businesses together, it makes
strategic sense. It makes financial sense. It creates a really interesting, diversified pharma
company, biopharma company, with a pipeline and the ability to continuously generate new products
within that pipeline.
And were very excited to get the transaction closed, and to really get going on this. And I think
the portfolio approach that we have, both within EDT and in Alkermes, is what will lead to
sustainable high margins, and in a business thats growing.
So with that, I will finish up, and Im going to had the presentation over to Jim, and make sure
that he has a pointer to start here.
Jim Frates Alkermes Inc. CFO
Thank you, Shane. Good afternoon, everyone. Appreciate your coming out this afternoon. And I
think Shanes correct. One of the words Ive heard most about this transaction is how
transformative it is. And I think nowhere is it as transformative as on our product and loss
statement, our income statement. So what I want to do is take you through a little bit of that, to
allow you to go back to your offices and really do a model because weve been living with this
transaction for the last seven months.
Weve run dozens of scenarios, upside and downside cases, through the revenue, through the expense
side. And we need to make sure that you can do that as well. So we have a little bit of time left,
and I did bring the 426 page S4 and I just thought wed take the next three hours to run through
that page by page and Ill give you a little background on that.
No, well put that down and I will stay at a higher level, but really want to go through line by
line. On the revenue side, youre going to have to think about a number of major products. And most
of us focus on the big five, but theres also a new pipeline that youre going to have to
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Jul 18, 2011 / 07:00PM GMT, ALKS Alkermes Inc Analyst and Investor Day
consider, as Shane and Elliot talked about, and theres also that mature revenue stream from EDT.
So you want to make sure, and as we model it, these are the lines we have on our revenue side.
On the expenses, its obvious youre going to have to think about costs of goods sold, R&D, SG&A.
But theres going to be a fourth new line, or new line on the model and thats the amortization of
intangibles. So this is the old FAS 144R, the new ASC 805-10, the purchase price accounting
essentially for the EDT acquisition. So at a point in time, and its going to be non-cash, but
thats going to affect our P&L for some time. So well talk about that as well.
Obviously, were borrowing $450 million to finance this transaction, so interest expense and
interest income because we have over $200 million in cash. So thats going to be an important line
on your model. We have the tax line. Rich touched on it a little bit. Ill talk about it a little
bit more. And its not as simple as looking at a blended tax rate. You really do have to model the
Company as a US business and an international business. So, give you some guidance on that.
And thats how we get to GAAP earnings, obviously. But weve been talking about adjusted EBITDA
because theres a lot of non-cash items in that P&L, particularly the amortization, the purchase
price accounting, our share-based compensation, and, of course, some one-off items associated with
the expenses of the transaction.
The other thing thats important to note, weve been talking about pro forma a lot; pro forma
fiscal 12, pro forma fiscal 11. Obviously, historically, the businesses werent together, but
depending on when the deal closes, and we expect it to close in September at this stage, youre
going to have a stub period of the old Alkermes for the first part of our fiscal year, and then the
combined businesses from the closing date on forward in fiscal year 12.
So our actual GAAP results for fiscal 12 are going to be very different from the pro forma results
weve talked about. So we try and be careful with that and well keep track of that, hopefully, as
we go.
So the next element down, whats so transformative about this transaction? And one of the things
beyond revenue growth, beyond the growth of these products, beyond these product launches, is our
ability to expand our margins. And Shane touched on that a little bit. We can grow revenues faster
than we can grow expenses. A lot of that has to do with the product launches that are occurring,
has to do with the business structure that we have, our tax rate, and well touch on a lot of
those.
Now this is not new guidance. This is the guidance you saw back in May when we announced the
transaction. Weve reiterated it today. Single digit growth, again, pro forma fiscal year 12 with
adjusted EBITDA margins in that 15% to 20% range. Its essentially where they were in fiscal year
11.
And we think with the product launches, our target is to get double digit revenue growth, in 13
and beyond and adjusted EBITDA margins in the 30% to 35% range. Clearly, thats transforming the
old Alkermes business, and were very excited about PLC.
Now, also have put in here fiscal year 2015. So as we go forward, Im going to talk about each of
the revenue lines in turn, but I want to focus you, not just on 10 and 11. And for each of the
major five products we have a chart that looks like this, slide 74, where on the left-hand side
theres some details about the products, new news, how the products have been doing historically.
And then on the right, just a sense of where the estimates are from the Street about each of these
major products, out in 2015, all the way to the right. So youll see the points are actuals. 2010,
2011 again March fiscal year, pro forma in this case because were combining SUSTENNA and CONSTA
in this franchise, and then were going to move you out and focus you on 15.
Not particularly for guidance purposes, because we dont guide that far, but this again is where
the Street analysts are and where I think each of you have to delve in and do the work and
obviously make your own decisions about each of the products. But it gives you a guide about what
people are thinking. And this is really some of the bases of the base cases that we did because as
we did a lot of modeling around the business, obviously this is where we started.
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So lets touch on this combined franchise of INVEGA SUSTENNA and RISPERDAL CONSTA. Again, its one
known by many of you. Importantly, from an economic perspective, the royalties that we receive,
pure royalty in the case of INVEGA SUSTENNA and XEPLION and a manufacturing royalty of around 10%
that nets out to around 7.5.
So those are both very similar for Alkermes PLC going forward. And so, were very excited about
being part of both of these franchises moving forward. Shane also touched about the recent news and
launches around the world for INVEGA SUSTENNA, so thats very exciting for us. We think this is a
growth franchise again.
But I want to just touch on the US results, because this is where people have been so focused for
the last couple of years, and these are actual numbers going back three years and just in the US
now. And Ill remind you that in August, September of fiscal year 10 was when INVEGA SUSTENNA was
launched. But if you look back historically, I think its very clear to see this is a growth
franchise, again, for Alkermes.
And as we launch around the world, that growth rate from relatively low penetration areas, for the
overall atypical antipsychotics is something that gets us very excited as the real core of our
business. Thats why, I think, as Elliot touched on, were so excited about 9070, our own
proprietary long-acting ABILIFY, because we thing this market has a lot of room to grow.
So lets turn to VIVITROL, again, very important information on the left-hand side, 35% unit
growth, fiscal year to fiscal year. We just announced this afternoon pre-announced really, the
Q1 number, $9.7 million in net sales for VIVITROL in the United States, a number were excited
about. That represents 14% growth compared to the March quarter. And just points you to, also, the
long patent life, which is something consistent across these five key products as we grow.
And then to the right, we see again, the approval for opioid indication, very new and important
indication. And again, moving out now four years, same convention, 2015, we see the range of
analyst estimates. Now, the bottom end of that range is actually a lower growth rate than we just
showed in the last quarter, if we just manifest that out over the next few years.
And so, its a range where we think as we do our modeling Ill show you now a graph of our
internal models thats modeling done on 43% to 70% annual growth rates. Okay? If you annualize
our last quarter 14%, lo and behold, you get 56%. That happens to be the average of 43% and 70%.
So, you can see what were doing. Were just doing math.
And no one would expect linear growth in any new launching product for four years. But the message
here really is that were very excited about this indication for VIVITROL and I think its worth
looking at the opioid indication again. And we cant predict when that inflection point is going to
come, but were certainly working hard. And as Elliot talked about, continuing to invest in the
business to hopefully deliver on that inflection point.
Just another look at a slide that some of you have seen before and one of the reasons why were
excited about the upside for VIVITROL. Given its long patent life into 2029, we have the time to
launch this product appropriately. But theres 900,000 prescriptions for opioid dependence in the
United States. This is a real market. Its over $1 billion in sales and commerce thats going on
for the treatment of opioid dependence. Im not sure too many people are satisfied with the
outcomes of that treatment broadly from a public health perspective, so there is an opportunity for
VIVITROL.
And as you see in the middle of that grid, which is really, just looking at duration of therapy on
one axis, and the amount of sales on the other were targeting roughly 40,000 patients to get us to
those potential goals that we model.
So as we model this a lot of different ways, and look at whether those models make sense, 40,000
patients in the backdrop of 900,000 patients makes us feel comfortable that theres a market worth
investing in here. And certainly, our clinical data has us believing that its certainly a market
that its worth investing, from a human perspective, in these patients, and giving them additional
treatment alternatives.
So lets turn to AMPYRA, another very exciting product, also in the very early stages of its launch
phase. And lets just touch on, briefly, whats happened since we announced the transaction. That
is weve have gotten new word on a US patent thats been allowed, that will take the product out to
2026. Thats a new piece of news since May 9th. The other new piece of news is, as Shane mentioned,
the positive recommendation from the CHMP in Europe.
So this is a very important product for us. I wont go into further detail because Shane talked
about it earlier, but that 18% royalty, combined with the royalty of manufacturer revenues for us,
is something that were very excited about. And again, analyst estimates there out in 2015, four
years beyond 2011, gives us a lot of confidence that this can be an important product for us.
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Jul 18, 2011 / 07:00PM GMT, ALKS Alkermes Inc Analyst and Investor Day
And then finally, in our major keystone products, BYDUREON entering the commercial phase. Im very
pleased to be able to report that last week we had the launch in the UK. Im sure you know about
that. And weve earned our $7 million milestone and will earn our 8% royalty now going forward on
each vial sold around the world. So for Alkermes now, its the culmination of a lot of work on
BYDUREON.
Were looking forward, obviously, to good news in the United States as well. The QT study results
were obviously very important for us but, a new phase. So now you have to model it in our revenue
line for BYDUREON. And again, its for you to decide. And I look around the room and I see lots of
differing opinions on some are above that line, some are below that bar, out in 2015. But for us,
wherever the bar is, obviously from a portfolio perspective it becomes very, very important for us.
I just want to touch on why were excited about BYDUREON, again, from a financial perspective.
There is a very large market for the treatment of diabetes. And again, I think from a public health
perspective, if you take a step back, Im not sure too many people are satisfied with the treatment
options that we have for patients at this stage because its still a progressive disease, and
causes a lot of excess suffering and cost for the healthcare system.
Today, you see the GLPs at only 3% of the overall market, so a lot of room to grow, and a lot of
excitement about the potential class. We also see that the daily entry into the market, in only its
second year, is predicted to be over $1 billion in sales. So were quite excited to imagine what a
weekly form of GLP can do in this market, because we believe that theres a lot of growth to come.
Okay, so the five key products, summarized here are really as we look at INVEGA, SUSTENNA and
RISPERDAL CONSTA, counts to almost as one, in our franchise as we model it, are clearly going to show
growth out through 2015. And again not meant to be projections, theres various scenarios you could
run, and I know each of you will do that.
But as we go out to 2015, you also have to look at new products coming on. And this is the stable
of late stage opportunities that we have, both from EDT and from Alkermes, including the
manufacturing deals that Shane touched on. So again, 2014, 2015 and beyond, youre going to have to
have a line for new products, things that arent generating revenue today.
Beyond that, in gray, youre going to have to have an estimate for the legacy products. And, as
Shane has talked about, I dont believe we have heroic assumptions about what needs to happen and
be delivered from the legacy products. But theyre going to be an important contributor. And the
other key thing is, as you build the different scenarios, I think youll find and its very
important to go and view scenarios for each of the lines here on our revenue side I think youll
find that you can understand then how we feel very confident that double digit growth is a real
potential from 2013 and forward.
So lets just touch on that a little bit more. This is a slide 82 is a shot of our current,
again, pro forma fiscal year 11 now, looking in the rearview mirror, about what the mix of
revenues are. But as you go forward, youll learn, revenues are going to grow, and whether you
think the CONSTA-SUSTENNA-XEPLION franchise is going to be the lions share and grow quickly,
whether people think that AMPYRA is going to grow, whether you think it can be BYDUREON, or whether
you think its going to be VIVITROL.
And I know as I look around, as I said earlier, there are people who have these kind of
representations for each of the products, and theres debate in the room about which ones are going
to grow, but what is very clear for us is that together were going to be able to deliver a very,
very attractive top line growth and an opportunity to continue to invest in the pipeline.
So lets now turn to our operating expenses, and touch on each of the cash operating expenses, as
you would, going forward. So what we like about this business is it
gives us a lot of levers. And
its also very important that you dont simply take each line and relate it to the total overall
revenue line because there are different drivers in here. So lets go through and talk about that a
little bit.
First of all for COGS. Again, people talk obviously as a place to start people talk about
margins. The important thing for our business though is that two of our key revenue drivers,
BYDUREON, and INVEGA SUSTENNA are pure royalties. So as they become more mature in the launch phase
for SUSTENNA launching around the world, and for BYDUREON, not really just launched, not yet
reported in any of our quarters, thats going to be pure top line revenue, without any expenses
associated with them.
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So thats a key opportunity for margin expansion, and you simply cant key your COGS line off your
revenue line. Its going to have to be one level down of complexity there.
The other thing is that Shane touched on, we actually have a lot of built capacity for AMPYRA and
for VIVITROL. So as those sales continue to increase, were actually going to see margin expansion
in those areas. And again, another thing that gets us to the idea of expanding our EBITDA margins
so thats COGS.
SG&A, you saw a little bit of and those financials for EDT are actually broken out for
historical years, not only in our S4 now, its filed, but also in the old Elan financial
statements, and you see an Alkermes G&A expense. And I think weve done a very thorough job of
modeling that G&A. I think were controlled, and were going to grow that at essentially the rate
of inflation, if you just look on the G&A side. We dont actually have our offices here with
waterfront views. We just rent these for the afternoon, and we go back to Waltham at much lower
rents.
On the S side, the sales side is going to be entirely related, really, to the VIVITROL growth, and
VIVITROL profits. So as we grow the S line its going to be because VIVITROL is growing, and not
vice versa. And well be able to control that, again, and so the way we think about it internally,
is really bucketing the S side of things to the VIVITROL growth side.
And then theres going to be potential in out years too, to talk about selling our own products
thats one of the key attributes of this deal but thatll be very key, and again, to certain
lines of revenue. But I dont think you can just say, Oh, SG&A, industry-wide, average, boom,
thats what were going to apply to the new Alkermes because of the nuanced revenue lines that we
have.
And then, finally R&D. This is really our major lever of control, and one where we think we have
substantial resources. If you look at the right-hand side, now these are the historical Alkermes
and EDT, kind of pro forma and R&D spend, going back historically, and you can see that neither
company has been profligate spenders on the R&D side.
I think we invest wisely. Weve had a very good track record of success, both in developing
products that ultimately get to approval, but also in paring back on products that arent making it
forward. And so again, in the margin range, if you look at growing revenues, you can look at an R&D
budget thats in the $160 million to $180 million range in the out years, that gives us sufficient
funds to push our pipeline forward.
Were going to be very focused on developing those products that are moving forward. Were going to
be selective in what we move forward. Its been described as a jump ball, putting our best programs
together and investing in them, and we think well have the opportunity to do that.
Another part of the expense control, as it were, is I think we see the opportunity to really take
advantage of pharmaceutical partnerships. One of the things that is unique about this era, is that
the pipeline cupboards of many of the large pharma companies, and even many of the medium sized
biotech companies, large sized biotech companies, are in need of new and growing products. So we
think its a good time to be a seller of these assets to larger companies. And we think we can
manage that portfolio to our benefit.
And I think were quite proud of our track record at Alkermes, and clearly the track record at EDT
can show you that these partnerships can be done and done effectively. And again, they give us an
outlet to develop more products than perhaps we could of our own P&L, and do it in a way that can
lead to expanding margins.
So now lets talk about the other, the new fourth line as it were, in the Alkermes P&L, and thats
the modeling of the amortization of intangible assets. So again, back to merger accounting, if you
look on the left-hand side here, were going to have to take the purchase price, and allocate that
across our P&L.
The purchase price, because were using some shares, is only going to be decided its going to
be the closing price on whatever day we close, September 5th, September 20th, whatever, whenever
the shareholder vote is. And as I say thats on track for September, but well determine that.
And then were going to have to allocate that, some to the balance sheet. Net balance sheet assets,
this is the property and equipment, the inventory thats coming over, thats going to be roughly
$300 million. Down at the bottom we also have goodwill, which is the patents and the brand name and
things like that, thats roughly going to be $90 million to $100 million.
And the remaining $600 million or $700 million and this is a good thing because this is all done
by external experts, we dont really have a choice in it anymore, in the new accounting rules. So
weve hired Duff and Phelps and our auditors PWC have reviewed all the financial models, and whats
nice is that much of the value that were paying is related to the hard assets, the physical assets
of the plant, the fair value and the fair value of the royalty streams from the approved products
that Elan has in its work.
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Jul 18, 2011 / 07:00PM GMT, ALKS Alkermes Inc Analyst and Investor Day
So were going to have an anticipated annual amortization charge of $45 million for the full year
first full year, pro forma 12 as it were, moving up to probably in the $80 million to $85
million dollar range, again as those sales increase, because theyre related to the sales, and then
no more is the straight line, okay you have $700 million. Its 10 years so you get $70 million.
Its going to grow over time with the sales and then decrease over time with the sales. And well
give you more specific guidance on that now, but thats something that we wanted to make sure you
understood as you start to build your models.
I will remind you, this is all non-cash. Its essentially a way that the accounting profession
takes a snapshot of what we paid for the business on September X when we close. But now were going
to be saddled with that for the next 10 or 15 years, running that point in time estimate through
the balance sheet through the income statement, excuse me.
So thats one of the reasons why weve been talking about adjusted EBITDA. Its very important, we
think, to get to a cash number, an operating number that you can look at, quarter to quarter, that
isnt saddled with one-time decisions that have been made in the past. And other companies that do
acquisitions do this as well. So thats why were going to talk about adjusted EBITDA.
For those of you who want to see our definitions, and broader definitions, theres a lexicon sheet
at the end of my presentation in your charts that takes you through the specific definitions there.
So thats our operating expense above the line.
Interest income, this is actually, I think, an exciting part of the financial aspect of this
transaction for us because weve been able to purchase this asset using $450 million of debt that
weve circled. Its pending a close of the close of the transaction, but our book has been
distributed, and we have the deal terms in place. And I think theyre quite favorable in this
market environment.
First, we have a bank loan which has no penalties to pre-pay, and has no quarterly maintenance
covenants, which we think is important for our flexibility as we run our biotech company here. Its
also with a floating rate note, a floating rate interest rate, excuse me of 7.6%, and 1% principal
amortization a year, so its and six and seven-year terms so, again, it gives us the flexibility to
get the business together, and we think, with the cash flows that the business can generate.
And as part of the loan were committed to using 50% of our excess cash flow. So again, an
important part of the model make sure you have your interest rate there for the debt, which will be
there at close, but also that you have a small calculator that takes any excess cash flow you have,
and well be paying that debt off as we go.
Again, were obligated to pay 50% of the free cash flow each year, but were interested in using
more because well still have $220 million, roughly, of cash at the end of this transaction. So
quite a bit lower net debt number, and again, we wanted to be able to have the flexibility to
finance this company appropriately over the long term.
Once the company is together and as Ive been told many times the debt world looks in the
rearview mirror I do think that if we can deliver on these growing cash flows, that it makes
sense to have a layer of permanent debt on. But well be able to look at that with a bit more time
once this acquisition financing is in place. So were very excited about the debt terms for the
transaction.
Finally, taxes. Before we get to our adjusted EBITDA, we have to understand the tax rate. And
again, a lot of questions have come in about our estimates for future tax rates. And weve stayed
at a relatively high level because its appropriate to do so this early in the transaction, I
believe. But one thing we do have to go one level down we really have to start looking at
this, again as a US operating business and as a European operating business, because well have
different tax rates and expense structures with both.
So the US tax rate will apply to US income. At this stage thats generally driven by, mainly driven
by RISPERDAL, CONSTA and VIVITROL. Were also borrowing in the United States, so well have our
interest costs in the United States, and the expenses of R&D that we have here, thats owned by the
US subsidiary. We have some NOLs, roughly $80 million after the BYDUREON transfer that will
continue to reside in the US. We might have some state taxes that we have to deal with as well, so
again, thats the US side of the business.
On the Irish side, well have the profits associated with the EDT revenues and royalties, AMPYRA,
INVEGA SUSTENNA, now BYDUREON as well, because weve transferred, or will transfer at close. But
that transfer has been set in place in an announcement, as you know, and that standard tax rate is
12.5%.
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So, well give you more guidance as we go, but our high level guidance is do the math on each of
the different businesses and you get to a blended rate of roughly 20% and then obviously well do
our best to give you better guidance as we go and as each of the products gets more experience
behind it well know more about the revenues and the tax rates there.
So in closing, were quite pleased with the business and the levers that the business allows us.
Weve got a diverse portfolio driving the top line. Were very excited not to have single product
risk in delivering on these top lines. And beyond the portfolio of key assets, theres also parts
of the business, as Shane talked about, the 19 legacy products, and the new products coming on from
the pipeline and later stage products that are going to drive our top line.
We have the ability to invest quite substantially in a pipeline that we think is quite exciting,
and we have the ability to invest on our own and also to invest together with partners. And so its
very important to us, too, to have future growth because thats one of the businesses. And we think
we have an engine that can generate future growth going forward.
And finally, both of those things, as well as the corporate structure and the launches of the
products, drive us to expanding EBITDA margins. And were quite excited as a management team to be
able to deliver on the growth that is provided with this business and be judged by our financial
performance over time as we go.
You know, my dad used to quote this Archimedes to me a long time. It was said that years ago,
thousands of years ago he said, Give me a lever long enough and a place to stand on and I can move
the earth. This business gives us a lot of levers as a management team to control, from the top
line, on the bottom line and I think thats why were excited to come together and to deliver
financially for you in the years to come.
So with that Ill close. Appreciate your attention. We have just a little last segment. I promise I
wont go through the S4, a little last segment of questions. Im going to invite Elliot, Shane and
Richard to come up and if you just give us a moment to set up well get going with questions.
QUESTION AND ANSWER
Richard Pops Alkermes Inc. Chairman, President, CEO
Okay. Is everybody miced up?
Unidentified Company Representative
I think so.
Richard Pops Alkermes Inc. Chairman, President, CEO
Okay, good. So Ill emcee this. There are some mikes that are moving around. Were webcasting
right now so if you would holler for a mike, Cory wants one, and then the people on the web can
hear the question.
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Final Transcript
Jul 18, 2011 / 07:00PM GMT, ALKS Alkermes Inc Analyst and Investor Day
Cory Kasimov JPMorgan Analyst
Is this on? Okay, thanks. Cory Kasimov, JPMorgan, two questions for you, one related to the
merger and one on the pipeline. As far as the merger is concerned, is there anything you can say
about progress being made with the SEC and whether or not youve passed HSR yet?
And then the pipeline question is on 9070, and if you could maybe talk a little bit about the
business development strategy with that asset and how far you want to go on your own?
Richard Pops Alkermes Inc. Chairman, President, CEO
Well, Ill kick it off. Ill give you the update on the SEC and HSR, and its good news on
both fronts actually. We learned just recently that SEC will not be reviewing the S4 so its all
systems go now for us. Well go effective after we file the Q, which we expect to do at the
beginning of August. So were on track for the shareholder mailing and then the vote in September
as Jim was referring to.
HSR we passed the notification period and we have no HSR issues as well. So thats good news for
us. 9070, I hope you all realize that the data that Elliot showed was weve never shown that
before. In fact, there are a lot of pharmaceutical companies who have been anxious to see those PK
profiles on 9070.
So what you saw was exactly what we had hoped to see, which was the dose proportionality, the
tolerability and the once monthly dosing that we can then model at steady state. Our plan is to be
able to commercialize 9070 ourselves in the US, if that makes the most sense. We can really follow
in the footsteps of RISPERDAL CONSTA and of VIVITROL, which is another product thats a largely
it was a big Medicaid component. State buyers are important. Reimbursement is complicated,
especially injectable.
Outside the US where youll recall over 2/3 of the sales of CONSTA come from, we expect a partner,
and weve already been approached by pharmaceutical companies on the 9070 opportunity. But the
important thing is, unlike other partnering stories you hear from younger companies, were not
[rate] limited by the need for a partnership. We are hammering along this now on our own timeline.
Thats why were going to start the pivotal program.
In this indication it was pretty clear what one needs to do to gain approval. Other long-acting
atypical injectables have been approved, so were going to go as hard as we can. And well partner
when it makes the most sense.
Thanks, Cory. Kim, you can go ahead and give him the mike for the second one.
Ami Fadia UBS Analyst
Hi, thank you. This is Ami Fadia from UBS. One question on ALKS 37, how do you plan to develop
this product beyond the dose-ranging study and longer term do you intend to partner it or try to
market it on your own?
And just to follow up on the 9070, if you had to continue to develop it on your own, how big a
Phase III study would you have to do and would it be one or two studies? Thanks.
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Richard Pops Alkermes Inc. Chairman, President, CEO
Great. Elliot can chime in and Ill start. 37 is a product that is an oral compound for the
treatment of opioid-induced constipation, as you know. The commercial footprint for 37 is bigger
than a 9070 would be because 9070 is going to be focused in the community mental health center
where and the limited number of physicians who prescribe long-acting atypical (inaudible).
We can see a commercial partnership around 37 which would provide a GP wraparound to a specialty
force that we might not. But were pretty flexible on how we would approach that. [OUS] we see
partnering. We dont see necessarily at this moment building commercial infrastructure in all
countries to be able to sell ALKS 37.
9070, our guidance that weve given you for this year in the R&D spend presupposes success in this
clinical trial and that we would be starting the pivotal program sometime in the fiscal year. Well
meet with FDA and outside the US regulatory authorities to completely round out the program. So I
cant really give you an answer yet, but our annual guidance accounts for our running the Phase III
ourselves and it will next year as well if we havent partnered by then.
Hes got the mike and theres a request for a mike up here.
Terence Flynn Goldman Sachs Analyst
Thanks. Terence Flynn, Goldman, two questions. The first on VIVITROL. I know you gave some
details on patient penetration model here. And you assumed a duration of treatment of three to nine
months. Can you just tell us what thats based on? Then number two, where is the product currently
tracking out there in the market?
And second question on ALKS 37, I think you guys have previously talked about going into a Phase
III following the first Phase II trial you did, but I noticed today youre talking about a Phase
IIb. Maybe just what additional questions youre looking to answer with these new doses youre
exploring that you didnt learn from the first Phase II study that you did? Thanks a lot.
Richard Pops Alkermes Inc. Chairman, President, CEO
Okay. Why dont I start with the second one first and then maybe youll get tired of hearing
from me and well let somebody else say something. The Im sorry. I forgot the question. Honest
to God. I just I was thinking about the first one and the second one went. So the 37 one was
Unidentified Company Representative
37 why are we doing a Phase IIb (inaudible multiple speakers).
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Jul 18, 2011 / 07:00PM GMT, ALKS Alkermes Inc Analyst and Investor Day
Richard Pops Alkermes Inc. Chairman, President, CEO
So Terrence, we had made the point about the IIb several weeks ago when we first met with FDA.
So the big change is we actually went down to FDA, showed them the data, laid out the plan, and FDA
suggested this definitive IIb study to fully elaborate the doses.
So youll notice were testing a higher dose at 150 to get the back end of the curve figured out,
and weve jettisoned the lower doses so its 25 to 150. And as soon as were done with that study
well we plan on launching the two parallel Phase III studies next year.
And on VIVITROL, a lot of what Jim showed you was math. That was simply saying if you take our
current persistency in alcohol, which is low, its only two or three months, we know from the
opioid market already that theres an instinct towards longer periods of use of VIVITROL, but well
see what it turns out to be.
It just made the point with fairly modest number of patients with fairly modest assumptions about
duration. We drive those numbers. So its really just a sensitivity exercise more than anything.
Terence Flynn Goldman Sachs Analyst
(Inaudible microphone inaccessible).
Richard Pops Alkermes Inc. Chairman, President, CEO
The question was are we seeing durations longer than [alcohol]? Its too early to say right
now because weve just really been in the indication for a short period of time. Thats our hope
and our expectation but we dont have data yet.
David Pearl Epoch Investment Partners Analyst
David Pearl, Epoch Investment Partners, just thinking about the merger, EDT has quite a bit of
manufacturing capacity. Whats the utilization and how do you look at the synergies as far as
moving a product over, personnel, after this merger because there should be a lot of operating
leverage with the combination?
Richard Pops Alkermes Inc. Chairman, President, CEO
Yes, Shane, you want to?
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Shane Cooke EDT. EVP
Sure. I think youve got to look at the manufacturing capabilities of the two businesses are
different. And because Alkermes has injectables. We have [solid] oral dosages so theres not going
to be much synergy from that perspective. I think where we see that there is and this is
something that weve been working on before this transaction, is that with the fixed cost base that
we have place and the revenues that were generating from manufacturing are its a very
profitable business but we could probably do two or three or four times as much volume through the
same with the same cost base.
So what weve been doing is actively going out and working with the industry to collaborate with
some of the pharma companies around bringing capacity into both Athlone and in Gainesville. And as
I said, weve successfully signed up three or four contracts now, one of which has been pretty
significant for us and then which is in the process of being transferred into Athlone now and will
generate somewhere around $15 million or $20 million in revenues per annum in two or three years
time, which is pretty significant in the context of the size of that operation.
Richard Pops Alkermes Inc. Chairman, President, CEO
Its remarkable. When you look at EDT and Alkermes, Alkermes manufacturing in Wilmington, Ohio
is incredibly specialized, these aseptic manufacturing processes for these polymeric microspheres
for injection. As a result, the principal customer for our manufacturing has been J&J and
ourselves.
Contrast that at EDT where EDT has a very, very broad and excellent reputation in big pharma. And
so when Shane made the decision to dial up the contract business within EDT it was off of a
platform of a lot of notoriety, experience and reputation in big pharma, which I think they can
continue to leverage.
Steve Byrne Bank of America-Merrill Lynch Analyst
Steve Byrne, BofA, with respect to the states being increasingly squeezed on their budgets, do
you think that potentially could help you with overcrowded jails and the costs thereof? Or might it
hurt you if states start to trim out their drug court budgets?
Richard Pops Alkermes Inc. Chairman, President, CEO
So the answer to the question is yes. So its a really interesting dynamic. Its not so much
focused, Steve, on the drug court itself, but the basic phenomenon of states being squeezed in
terms of their ability to spend.
Weve had state directors tell us, I cant afford to save money. Even if I know that if I
purchase VIVITROL based on the data, well save money over time, but I dont have line item
latitude to be able to purchase the pharmaceutical product. In those cases, were inserting
ourselves from a policy point of view to help that process along.
But one thing thats clear is that as states and the federal government, A, get more cash-strapped,
and B, start focusing more and more on long-term outcomes as opposed to just a spot pharmacy cost,
not just VIVITROL but BYDUREON, CONSTA, SUSTENNA, 9070, these long-term type of chronic diseases
where were driving pharmacoeconomic outcomes, become really relevant.
So our job in the states, I think, is if you think about it this way. In the targeted states where
were doing the most work, which youre aware of, generate an incontrovertible data about the value
of using VIVITROL. And we believe that other states are going to fall like dominoes, because the
data becomes pretty self-evident. The paper that Elliot showed in Michigan and Missouri, 97%
reduction of recidivism rates or re-arrest rates, thats a criminal justice-type outcome, but also
translates into dollars. And were hearing a lot of feedback from that from the states.
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Final Transcript
Jul 18, 2011 / 07:00PM GMT, ALKS Alkermes Inc Analyst and Investor Day
Steve Byrne Bank of America-Merrill Lynch Analyst
And if I may, how do you justify spending on new novel targets like the ALKS 33 or the 5461
when you have this portfolio of technologies to pursue already demonstrated pharmacotherapies? Why
invest in the new novel targets rather than double down on the alternative?
Richard Pops Alkermes Inc. Chairman, President, CEO
Im glad you asked the question because it brings the point that for neither ALKS 33 nor some
of the other things where even the product that were showing for treatment-resistant depression,
were not really in the game of novel targets. 33 derives from a deep literature with respect to
opioid receptor antagonism. And the advance of 33, of course, was a different metabolic profile and
a different potency as well.
So our game, what were most interested in is not going after novel targets. Well go after novel
molecules because they have NCE protection and we can engineer in novel attributes to those
molecules. But weve been reluctant to go after de novo targets at all.
Now, as the Company gets bigger and the portfolio continues to be bigger, well have the ability to
at both ends of the spectrum to dabble a little bit more or less in these types of things. But
right now we feel like we can make significant improvements in medicines by going after
pharmacology thats pretty well-established.
Jim Frates Alkermes Inc. CFO
Id also say, too, that you can get a fast answer. We didnt spend a lot of money on the binge
eating study with ALKS 33, but obviously if it had worked I think it would be a very exciting area
to invest in. But to get that answer for $3 million or $4 million for the whole program that we can
get fast I think is something that, again, distinguishes us from maybe some other pharma companies.
Lets invest in these interesting areas and see if theres a return because if it works that early
proof of concept gives you a lot more confidence. We have a lot more
confidence now investing in
9070. Had it not worked we could have moved on to another investment, but now that weve seen the
data that we saw in the known area we have a lot of confidence investing more to bring it to
market.
Richard Pops Alkermes Inc. Chairman, President, CEO
But to Steves point, 9070, take that example Jim just raised. If we had failed in this first
clinical trial we did double down. We have a back up to 9070 already in [man] because we were so
convinced that this is a business opportunity where we can win that we didnt want to leave it
behind.
29
Jeanne Hynes Wellington Management Partner
Jeanne Hynes from Wellington, a couple of questions on 9070, so is this going to be a 505b2
filing or is it going to be an NCE? I know you talked about patents, so is this a new chemical
entity? Do you need to wait for the aripiprazole patent to expire?
Maybe a third question is Otsuka has a long-acting aripiprazole, so maybe you can compare and
contrast your technology to their technology. And then, finally, are you working with this
technology on olanzapine? Thank you.
Richard Pops Alkermes Inc. Chairman, President, CEO
So 9070 is an NCE. Its an bona fide new chemical entity. It will be developed as such, but we
will be able to reference existing information on aripiprazole, so it gives us kind of a hybrid
registration strategy for the product. Its a global registration strategy. So to answer the IP
question is actually an incredibly layered answer.
All the patents arent the same in all territories and in all jurisdictions at all times. So our
point is to develop it as fast as we can. We dont think were going to be [rate] limited to
launching the product in key territories. And the timelines, even given where we see it mapping
out, we dont see a lot of slip between the expiration of the major country patents and when we
would be able to bring it to market. So our goal is just to get it moving as fast as we possibly
can. Otsuka has a Phase III complete of a long-acting aripiprazole product. It appears to be an
unmodified native aripiprazole. Weve not seen data. We were hoping to see some at APA this year.
We didnt see much about it, so its difficult for us to compare and contrast. The whole logic of
our developing 9070 as an NCE was driven by some of the inherent limitations of aripiprazole as an
intramuscular depot product, namely that its pro-inflammatory. When you inject aripiprazole into a
muscle of an animal and in a human, you get inflammation.
So the formulation work in front of us or at Otsuka, or anybody who is working with native
aripiprazole, would be to attenuate that inflammatory property. 9070 does that through the chemical
linker tail that Elliot described. Elliot, do you want to add anything more?
Elliot Ehrich Alkermes Inc. Chief Medical Officer
Yes, I think thats actually one of the biggest differentiation, is that local tolerability.
And what we do by modifying the aripiprazole molecule, we literally mask its inflammatory activity
in the subcutaneous or the intramuscular tissue following injection, and its really only after it
dissolves and then becomes mature. So thats one really important feature of the molecule.
The other is actually because of the its crystalline form and the way that, in our suspension
vehicle, we feel that were actually able to deliver fairly substantial doses in that. As we sort
of move ahead and continue to develop the product, we think that well actually be able to have a
more expanded dose range that will cover more effectively that dose range thats required for the
treatment of schizophrenia.
Richard Pops Alkermes Inc. Chairman, President, CEO
As Elliot points out, theres a wide range of commercial doses of oral aripiprazole that are
used clinically, and so wed like to be able to map depot corresponding doses. Thats why
proportionality and duration meant so much in this study.
Olanzapine, weve disclosed that were working on a LinkeRX formulation of olanzapine, but its not
ready for show time yet.
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Final Transcript
Jul 18, 2011 / 07:00PM GMT, ALKS Alkermes Inc Analyst and Investor Day
Mario Corso Caris & Co. Analyst
Mario Corso, of Caris & Company. A couple of pipeline questions, on the 5461, can you talk
about your plans there, in terms of looking at potentially keep it or out license? And then, on
ALKS 37, would you consider the molecule more closely related to Naltrexone or Naloxone? And kind
of related there, what do you think the differentiating advantages there might be to some of the
other products in Phase III development? Thank you.
Richard Pops Alkermes Inc. Chairman, President, CEO
Yes, 5461 is too early for us to say what our much like ALKS 33 and binge, our philosophy
is lets get the data, and lets see what it tells us. Were quite excited about the clinical
program that Elliots group has designed. Were using kind of an enriched way of looking at
efficacy, to try to get to one of those gold stars early in the program, to see whether there is
something of interest.
I can tell you in big pharma, treatment-resistant depression or major depressive disorder is big
time. Thats something that theres a lot of interest in. Its a [tractable] area for drug
development. FDA sees a need for new medications, and so on. So, well do what we did with 33,
well move into the clinic, see if we can get a read out, then well make a decision about it.
37, Ill let Elliot comment on a little bit, but I think that intellectually it began with
Naltrexone as a starting point, but recall that Naltrexone has a black box warning for liver
metabolism, liver toxicity, so we wanted to do a few things. We wanted to bypass the liver, hepatic
concerns, we wanted to increase the potency, we wanted to make it sublingually bioavailable, and we
wanted to probably have some effect on other opiate modulating systems if that was necessary. So
Elliot was really the architect behind this, so you can comment on it.
Elliot Ehrich Alkermes Inc. Chief Medical Officer
Yes, for ALKS 37, it, again, gets back to our core strategy of taking molecules that we know
work and enhance their properties with directed chemistry. And so we used our proprietary Palladium
chemistry platform to modify the molecule. And one of the issues with molecules that youre
targeting for the GI tract is that, not only is there metabolism in the liver, but theres a lot of
metabolism that literally takes place in the gut tissue.
So we modified the molecule so that to imbue it with its in the morphinane group of
molecules, but we imbued it with a metabolic robustness, so to speak, so that it sort of
perpetuates in the GI tract, and works in a more potent and effective fashion. We got pre-clinical
data to suggest that it would be more potent and more active than some of the other, existing
molecules that people have tried, and that was really the basis for taking that [in]. And so far,
our clinical data has borne that out.
Rebecca Peterson Alkermes Inc. VP Corporate Communications
All right, everyone, I think lets take two more questions, and then well wrap it up. Ami, I
think you were next.
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Ami Fadia UBS Analyst
Thanks. Is this on?
Unidentified Company Representative
Yes, its on.
Ami Fadia UBS Analyst
Okay, two financial questions. Firstly, you said that somewhere in the outer years, you could
expect the R&D expense run rate to be about $160 million to $180 million. Do you think that thats
a good range, thinking over the next five to seven years, or should
we think it grows?
Jim Frates Alkermes Inc. CFO
Sure, I think the reason for that is because as you know, is the further you model out, the
more difficult it is to know specifically which programs youre going to be spending on. And so
what we did, was we looked at comparable companies of similar sizes, and youll find thats in that
same 20% to 25% margin spent on R&D, which large companies live with, year in, year out. So I think
thats where that guidance came from, and thats the math.
As you look at revenues growing for a few years, you do the margin on the R&D, and you get to money
in that range. And, suffice it to say, I wanted to give a goalpost, really, for people, because
obviously well decide in those out years what we have to spend on R&D. Revenues could be a lot
higher. We could have done a partnership, maybe we spend less.
So its really going to be driven, and I think what youre hearing from us, really from the day one
of this transaction, was a commitment to delivering on expanding EBITDA markets. And the exercise
today was to, hopefully, allow you to see that thats very doable, if we can deliver on the broad
revenues.
Ami Fadia UBS Analyst
Thanks, and then secondly on the tax rate, you mentioned a 20% tax rate. Now, beyond a change
in the product mix, what other levers do you have to lower the tax rate beyond that 20%?
Jim Frates Alkermes Inc. CFO
Yes, its a good question about tax rate, and its ultimately driven by, again, that tale of
which part of Alkermes PLC owns the assets that are being sold. And, where is the work done,
because obviously if we decide to manufacture VIVITROL for launch in a European country, outside
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Final Transcript
Jul 18, 2011 / 07:00PM GMT, ALKS Alkermes Inc Analyst and Investor Day
the United States, where we do that work I think the at highest level of abstraction as I
look at it, where you add the value, where you take the risk, where the investment is made, is
where your profits match with.
So pull back, most of the again, at a high level, wheres the ownership of each of the products,
how much product is at excuse me, how much profit is that product generating, in which
jurisdiction, and that profit and ownership will guide where were taxed. So it will depend a lot
on, again, as people have very different views. If someone thinks VIVITROL is going to be a huge
product, well, right now, thats owned a lot thats owned entirely in the United States, so that
will be a US. tax rate.
Someone thinks BYDUREON is going to be huge product, that is a ex-US product. Its owned in
Ireland, or it will be owned in Ireland, so that will be an Irish tax rate. So you really have to
have the tax rates follow each of the products, and I outlined where the current late stage
products are owned, and where we choose to own a 9070 or a 37 will all depend on whats best for
our overall financial situation.
Tom Brakel Federated Investors Analyst
Hi, Tom Brakel, Federated. Just as a follow-up to that, companies that are domiciled in areas
with low tax rates seem to spend a fair amount of time looking for opportunities for inorganic
growth. Is that a discussion for the reception, or do you have some comments about this? And should
it be in the CNS focus area?
Richard Pops Alkermes Inc. Chairman, President, CEO
Thats a good question, Tom. Weve got so much inherent organic growth that we dont need to
go chasing inorganic growth at this time. That said, well be a much larger business over time, and
as a matter of course, well be looking to do things. But its one of the key points Id like you
to leave the meeting from, is this understanding how much of the organic growth is already
hard-wired into the P&L, and also in the DNA of the company, with the pipeline that weve been
working on so hard, and also with the technology assets that EDT and Alkermes share from all of the
manufacturing assets.
So many of these situations that youve referred to, they got where they were because of the tax
strategy and a rollup strategy. Weve come at it from a different place, which is innovative R&D
driving important products. And I actually think thats the highest value place to be going
forward.
All right, well, maybe well stop there. I just wanted to take this opportunity I want to thank
you guys for coming, I want to thank Rebecca Peterson and her whole corporate communications team,
most of them are here today. Its a huge project to do this for you, and I really appreciate it.
Theyre a great resource to you, and I know you guys avail yourselves of them all the time. Theres
a great set of refreshments, some are Irish-themed, that are next door. And anything else, Rebecca,
that you needed to tell people?
Rebecca Peterson Alkermes Inc. VP Corporate Communications
Thank you very much.
33
Richard Pops Alkermes Inc. Chairman, President, CEO
Thank you all, very much.
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