Anaheim-based Questcor Pharmaceuticals Inc. plans to market its Acthar drug for a wider range of medical conditions that are difficult to treat, according to its chief executive.
Acthar now is primarily used to treat flare-ups of multiple sclerosis, a neuromuscular disease that gradually causes the loss of physical functions.
Questcor also sells Acthar for a number of less common conditions, including a rare form of kidney disease and infantile spasms, a potentially fatal form of epilepsy.
Questcor’s “strategy is very straightforward—it’s just to grow sales in each of these markets and then add other markets,” Questcor Chief Executive Don Bailey said.
In all, Acthar is approved for 19 conditions, Bailey said during a recent presentation at a healthcare conference put on by investment bank Jefferies & Co.
Bailey, who describes Questcor as “a little bit of a different pharmaceutical company,” talked about key markets such as multiple sclerosis flares.
Acthar is used in multiple sclerosis patients who don’t respond to traditional steroid treatment for flares.
It’s not a first-line treatment because of its price. A treatment regimen with Acthar costs $40,000 to $50,000 prior to rebates, Bailey said.
Steroids, which are a first treatment for multiple scleroris flares, are much cheaper.
The “serious, difficult-to-treat” nature of diseases that Acthar is used for “is just the hand we were dealt and we’re going where it takes us,” Bailey said.
The upside, according to Bailey: difficult-to-treat diseases tend to have little or no competition.
Another strong point is the manufacturing process for Acthar, which is made from the pituitary glands of pigs and is makes it hard for generic drug makers to replicate.
Investors haven’t been concerned about Questcor’s focus on a single drug—its shares are up some 60% from the start of 2010. It had annual sales of about $115 last year and a recent market value of about $1.5 billion.
Questcor is “sitting on over $100 million in cash, and we’re debt-free,” Bailey said.
The drug maker moved its headquarters from the Bay Area to Orange County about a year ago.
Bailey, a Yorba Linda resident who became chief executive in 2006, had grown tired of commuting.
Biolase Settles
Biolase Technology Inc., an Irvine-based dental laser company, reached a final settlement deal with Royal Philips Electronics NV of the Netherlands and its Discus Dental LLC unit.
Discus, which was based in Culver City and was bought by Philips last year, sued Biolase in 2010. It alleged that Biolase’s iLase device violated patents covering Discus’ dental lasers.
Under the settlement, all claims against Biolase were dropped and dismissed with prejudice, meaning the courts are unlikely to reconsider the matter.
The deal also allows Biolase to continue selling iLase without any interruption. Philips is going to receive a nominal, undisclosed payment, most of which will be paid by Biolase’s insurer.
Biolase is “very pleased” to have reached a settlement, Chief Executive Federico Pignatelli said in a statement.
The lawsuit was an “unnecessary distraction to our current management team,” Pignatelli said.
FDA Approval
Irvine medical device maker Endologix Inc. received Food and Drug Administration approval for a new treatment for ballooning blood vessels.
Regulators approved Endologix’s AFXT Endovascular AAA device for treating abdominal aortic aneurysms.
An abdominal aortic aneurysm is the weakening of the aorta’s wall that leads to a balloon-like enlargement that can rupture. Endologix’ device delivers a stent that redirects blood flow away from the aneurysm, reducing pressure on it.
The AFXT is the latest version of Endologix’s abdominal aortic aneurysm device and has a mechanism that makes it easier for surgeons to put it inside the patient’s aorta.
Bits and Pieces
Orange-based St. Joseph Health System, which has four local hospitals, said it now is part of a data collection network operated by Explorys Inc. of Cleveland. Explorys collects, standardizes and aggregates clinical data to allow healthcare providers to identify and measure outcomes, correlations, trends and metrics with the aim of improving care … Toshiba America Medical Systems Corp., which has its headquarters in Tustin, completed its buy of Vital Images Inc. Toshiba America said in April that it was buying Minnetonka, Minn.-based Vital for $273 million. Vital provides visualization and analysis software for doctors and other healthcare specialists. Toshiba America is a unit of Japan’s Toshiba Corp.
