A Newport Beach-beach based startup drug maker founded by the former chief of urology at Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian has seen a growth spurt for its offering in the field of sexual medicine.
Absorption Pharmaceuticals Inc. makes Promescent, a topical spray treatment for premature ejaculation.
Premature ejaculation is considered one of the most common sexual disorders among men. Precise numbers on how many men are affected are difficult to discern, although some estimates put the total at about 40% in the U.S.
Promescent’s active ingredient is lidocaine, a drug that’s used as a local anesthetic and found in various products. Lidocaine is a featured ingredient in Juvéderm XC, the lower-face filler produced by Orange County’s largest drug maker, Irvine-based Allergan Inc. (see related story, page 1).
The lidocaine in Promescent is formulated in a way that it does not transfer to its user’s partner, according to a company fact sheet.
Absorption Pharmaceutical Chief Executive Jeff Abraham said he learned about Promescent from company founder Dr. Ronald Gilbert, who previously served as chief of urology at Hoag and remains on staff at the hospital.
“He is my personal urologist,” Abraham said. “I visited him, and I was introduced to the product.”
Abraham bought a stake in the company shortly before it got what is known as a Food and Drug Administration “monograph” approval, which allows it to be sold over the counter. The FDA approval came in 2010.
Promescent competes with various other drugs that are approved for other uses but allowed to be prescribed for premature ejaculation. The condition has traditionally been treated with anti-anxiety drugs such as Paxil or Prozac, which fall under a drug class called selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors.
Such drugs are effective in delaying premature ejaculations, Abraham said, but come with unpleasant side effects, such as loss of libido, dry mouth and nausea.
Absorption sees big potential for Promescent, which has gone from startup to about $1.2 million in sales a year, according to Abraham.
Abraham said the premature ejaculation market could eventually compare with sales for erectile dysfunction, which is now projected at about $6 billion a year.
Many well-known drugs compete in the erectile dysfunction market, such as New York-based Pfizer Inc.’s Viagra; Indianapolis-based Eli Lilly & Co.’s Cialis, and Levitra, which is jointly marketed by U.K.-based GlaxoSmithKline PLC and Montville, N.J.-based Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals, a unit of Bayer AG in Germany.
Interest
Absorption recently presented at a JPMorgan Securities conference in San Francisco and received three purchase offers from larger drug makers, Abraham said.
“The company is not for sale at this point,” he said. “We are set up to continue to grow.”
Absorption is in talks with several drug makers about potential partnerships that would include equity investments, he said.
Absorption, which is privately held, expects to have $3 million to $3.5 million in revenue this year if it remains on its own, and “if we get a partner, we could go up to $10 million to $12 million,” Abraham said.
The company sells Promescent through pharmacies, doctors’ offices, and on its website.
It has made recent efforts to get the drug into pharmacies and urologists’ offices. It now has Promescent in the Urology Specialists of Southern California, a large group practice that is based in Torrance and has 50 doctors in Orange and Los Angeles counties.
Promescent is currently not covered by insurance, although premature ejaculation is recognized as a disease. Absorption plans to work with insurance companies, but Abraham said he eventually expects the majority of Promescent’s sales to come as a lifestyle drug.
Absorption also has used media connections to promote Promescent. The product has been featured by sex educator and relationship therapist Laura Berman, doctor and television personality Mehmet Oz, and comedian and actor Steve Harvey in various talk shows and forums.
Absorption, which recently arranged for contract manufacturing in North Carolina, now has seven employees and expects grow to 20 to 25 workers before the end of 2013, Abraham said.
