Medicure has US rights to Aggrastat (tirofiban hydrochloride), an intravenously administered anti-platelet drug that acts as a glycoprotein IIb/IIIa (GPI) inhibitor. With Aggrastat sales having peaked, the firm is focused on expanding its product portfolio, such as through the recent launch of Zypitamag. We also expect it to deploy its cash resources to acquire or in-license new products to bolster its growth profile.
Medicure |
Building a cardiovascular franchise
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Pharma & biotech |
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3 July 2018 |
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Medicure has US rights to Aggrastat (tirofiban hydrochloride), an intravenously administered anti-platelet drug that acts as a glycoprotein IIb/IIIa (GPI) inhibitor. With Aggrastat sales having peaked, the firm is focused on expanding its product portfolio, such as through the recent launch of Zypitamag. We also expect it to deploy its cash resources to acquire or in-license new products to bolster its growth profile.
Aggrastat: A leading anti-platelet drug
Aggrastat is indicated to reduce the rate of thrombotic events in patients with non-ST elevation acute coronary syndrome. Medicure markets Aggrastat in the US, where it competes with two other GPIs, namely abciximab (ReoPro by Eli Lilly) and eptifibatide (Merck’s integrilin, but now also generic) as well other injectable platelet inhibitors (cangrelor) and to a lesser extent, oral drugs such as heparin. Despite having lower marketing resources than branded GPI competitors, Aggrastat has over 50% US market share in this segment. Net Aggrastat sales in 2017 was C$27.1m (down 7.4% year-on-year), as despite increasing market share and sales volumes, price competition from generic eptifibatide dampened net revenue.
Recent US launch of Zypitamag adds second drug
Medicure acquired US rights to Zypitamag (pitavastatin magnesium) from Zydus Cadila in late 2017 and launched it in H118. Like other statin drugs, pitavastatin inhibits HMG-CoA reductase to lower LDL-cholesterol, but it also provides superior increases in HDL-cholesterol to most statins and is less likely to raise blood sugar or diabetes risk. Medicure is initially positioning Zypitamag against Livalo (pitavastatin calcium, marketed by Kowa), which had over $250m in sales in 2017.
Three ANDAs in pipeline to further diversify sales
Medicure has three abbreviated new drug applications (ANDAs) in its pipeline, which are all in-hospital use injectable products allowing Medicure to leverage its existing sales infrastructure. Medicure anticipates receiving the approval of the first one in Q418, leading to potential launch in Q119.
Valuation: Current share price implies EV of C$44m
Medicure had C$72.4m net cash at 31 March 2018 and in the prior 12 months recorded C$26.2m in revenue and C$0.3m in Q118 operating cash flow. With the receipt of US$50m in Q118 from the final tranche of its Apicore divestiture, Medicure’s cash position now positions it to potentially embark upon product acquisitions or in-licensing deals to leverage its existing sales infrastructure.
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Source: Company data, Bloomberg |
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