Ista Pharmaceuticals Inc. is taking aim at a big goal—hitting $500 million in yearly sales by 2015.
The Irvine eye drug maker is looking at growing sales of existing drugs, products in development, partnerships and possible deals to reach the goal, Chief Executive Vince Anido said.
Analysts expect Ista to post 2010 sales of $152 million, up 40% from a year earlier.
Ista’s drugs include allergy eye drops Bepreve and Bromday, a new formula of its Xibrom drug for treating pain after cataract surgery, and glaucoma drug Istalol.
“With the current product line, we think we can get to over $300 million,” Anido said.
Bromday and Bepreve are “the two drivers,” he said.
Ista also expects two potential product launches in the next few years: Remura for dry eyes and a nasal allergy formulation of Bepreve.
The company has been able to grow sales with a quick transition away from Xibrom, which lost patent protection and has yet to face a generic rival, Anido said.
“We’ve already converted almost a third of our doctors to the protected brand,” Anido said of Bromday, which was approved in October.
Analysts expect Ista to soon end sales of Xibrom.
Ista also is looking to push Bepreve, which came out in 2009 and had sales of $10.6 million for the nine months through September.
Lofty Goals
The company faces some skepticism.
Ista’s revenue and product launch goals “may be hard to achieve,” said Frank Pinkerton, an analyst with SunTrust Robinson Humphrey in Atlanta.
The analyst said he appreciated that Ista is “going back on the offense by laying out a five-year business plan focused on growth.”
“We view this franchise as being undervalued given its growth potential and value as a specialty company,” he said.
Ista’s stock has more than doubled in the past six months with a recent market value of about $200 million.
The company’s plan also includes selling drugs through more doctors. Ista now focuses on ophthalmologists, optometrists and allergists.
Primary Docs
It hopes to enlist primary care physicians upon approval of new drugs Remura and a nasal form of Bepreve.
“This will require a different commercialization strategy,” Anido said.
Ista’s looking to strike a sales pact with other drug companies that “have reach into the primary care physicians’ market and expertise in direct-to-consumer marketing,” Anido said.
Acquisitions also are a possibility, according to Anido.
Eye, allergy and respiratory drugs are of interest, “with a particular interest in established, over-the-counter businesses,” he said.
For 2011, Ista recently told investors and analysts it projects profits of $5 million to $8 million.
Revenue’s seen as coming in at $175 million to $190 million.
Analysts are more aggressive on Ista’s profit prospects, expecting the drug maker to earn $9.6 million in 2011. Sales are pegged at $181.7 million this year, in the middle of the company’s guidance.
Profitability
The company anticipates a first-quarter loss but expects to be profitable this year, according to Chief Financial Officer Lauren Silvernail.
Profitability could bring interest in Ista.
“We’re now accretive to anybody who wants to buy us because we’re making money,” Anido said.
Eye drug makers Allergan Inc. of Irvine and Switzerland’s Alcon Inc., which has some 800 workers in Irvine, are “obvious” potential suitors, he said.
Besides publicly traded companies, Anido called it “feasible” that Ista could be bought by a private equity firm. Going private with a private equity backer could spur acquisitions of other companies, he said.
“We’re one of the last remaining (independent) plays” in eye drugs, he said. n
