Earnings Labs

Corcept Therapeutics Incorporated (CORT)

Q3 2024 Earnings Call· Wed, Oct 30, 2024

$46.73

+1.10%

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Transcript

Operator

Operator

Good day and thank you for standing by. Welcome to the Corcept Therapeutics Conference Call. At this time, all participants are in listen-only mode. After speaker's presentation, there will be a question-and-answer session. [Operator Instructions] Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded. I'd like to hand the conference over to your first speaker today, Atabak Mokari, Chief Financial Officer. Please go ahead.

Atabak Mokari

Analyst

Hello, everyone. Good afternoon, and thank you for joining us. Today, we issued a press release announcing our financial results for the third quarter and providing a corporate update. A copy is available at corcept.com. Our complete financial results will be available when we file our Form 10-Q with the SEC. Today's call is being recorded. A replay will be available at the Investors, Past Events tab of our website. Statements during this call other than statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements based on our plans and expectations that are subject to risks and uncertainties, which might cause actual results to be materially different from those such statements express or imply. These forward-looking statements are described in today's press release and the risks and uncertainties that may affect them are described in the press release and in our Annual Report on Form 10-K and our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, all of which are publicly available at the SEC's website. Please refer to those documents for additional information. We disclaim any intention or duty to update forward-looking statements. Our revenue in the third quarter of 2024 was $182.5 million an increase of 48% compared to the third quarter of last year. We expect our revenue growth to continue and have increased our 2024 revenue guidance to $675 million to $700 million. Net income was $47.2 million in the third quarter compared to $31.4 million in the third quarter of the prior year. Our cash and investments at September 30th were $547.6 million compared to $492.5 million at June 30th. We acquired $23.4 million of our common stock in the third quarter pursuant to our stock repurchase program, the net exercise of stock options by Corecept employees and the net vesting of restricted stock grants. I will now turn the call over to Charlie Robb, our Chief Business Officer. Charlie?

Charlie Robb

Analyst

Thanks, Atabak. I don't have much to report this quarter. As many of you know, in March 2018, we sued Teva Pharmaceuticals to stop it from marketing a generic version of Korlym in violation of our patents. In December of last year, the trial court ruled against us, appeal that decision to the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals. Briefing in the matter is complete, the documents are available at the government's PACER website and the next step is for the Federal Circuit to schedule oral argument. The court could schedule oral argument as early as January of next year and issue a decision in the next quarter. If we prevail, Teva would lose FDA approval of its product and at least until the expiration of our patents in 2037 would be unable to market the product. As I've said before, we are eager to advance this appeal. We strongly believe that, our position is correct and that the Federal Circuit with its deep expertise in patent law will agree. I'll now turn the call over to Joe Belanoff, our Chief Executive Officer. Joe?

Joe Belanoff

Analyst

Thank you, Charlie, and thank you everyone for joining us this afternoon. This is a very exciting time at Corcept. Physician awareness and understanding of hypercortisolism is accelerating. The results from our GRACE and GRADIENT Phase 3 studies clear the path for relacorilant's new drug application in Cushing's syndrome, which we will submit by year end. Our Phase 4 CATALYST trial in patients with Cushing's syndrome and difficult to treat diabetes will generate data this quarter as will our trials in patients with ovarian cancer and ALS. Success in these endeavors will transform the company. We ended the third quarter with another high in both the number of new Korlym prescribers and the number of patients receiving treatment with Korlym. More physicians are now aware that hypercortisolism is much more prevalent than was previously assumed. As a result, they are screening and treating many more patients. When Korlym is prescribed, the expertise and infrastructure we have developed and refined over many years plays a critical role in helping patients and physicians achieve optimum benefit. Our Korlym business is thriving. Perhaps even more important, we've recently made substantial progress in the advancement of our proprietary selective cortisol modulator relacorilant. The story is not complicated. Patients in the GRACE and GRADIENT studies experienced meaningful improvements in hypertension, glucose control, weight and body composition, as well as other signs and symptoms of Cushing's syndrome. Relacorilant was very well tolerated and did not cause some of the serious adverse events that can be caused by other medications used to treat Cushing's syndrome, in particular, hypokalemia, endometrial hypertrophy, its related vaginal bleeding, QT prolongation and adrenal insufficiency. As you recall, our pivotal Phase 3 GRACE trial is the basis for relacorilant’s NDA. In the trials open label phase, 152 patients with Cushing's syndrome and either…

Operator

Operator

Thank you. [Operator Instructions] Our first question comes from the line of David Amsellem of Piper Sandler. Your line is now open.

David Amsellem

Analyst

So just have a couple, on the GRADIENT data. First, I guess I'm trying to better understand how to think about this. So you have on the blood pressure endpoint, you released active drug versus placebo, that difference was not statistically significant. I understand the differences versus baseline. But I guess my question here is, how should one interpret that, number one, just given the absence of separation specifically versus placebo, not baseline? And then number two, what gives you confidence that you will be able to not only file, but be able to get approval, here, with the GRADIENT data in hand given that backdrop? And then I guess the last part of the question is that, is GRADIENT needed for approval? Has your communication with the FDA changed regarding the role of GRADIENT in the NDA? Thanks.

Joe Belanoff

Analyst

Yes. Thank you, David. I think I understood all those questions. And first, I'd just like to pass you over to Bill Guyer. Bill is our Chief Development Officer. You've heard him on previous calls and I think he can answer your data question very specifically.

William Guyer

Analyst

Thank you, Dave for that question. I can hopefully address all your questions that you've asked. So the most important thing to remember when you look at the GRADIENT data is that as you had pointed out, we're very confident with submitting an NDA based upon the GRADIENT data, but it's not just the GRADIENT data. Our NDA will include a total of four studies. Our Phase 2 study and three Phase 3 studies, GRACE as our pivotal study, GRADIENT as the supportive study, and another Phase 3 study we don't talk about as much, but I will today is Study 452, which is our long-term extension study. Altogether, this gives us the largest NDA package for Cushing's syndrome and we have hundreds of patients. So going to the FDA with this large of a package, no other company has done that thus far. Now GRADIENT from its inception was always designed to be supportive of GRACE and GRACE was always going to be our pivotal study and that's our agreement with the FDA. And we met our primary endpoint for GRACE. Now as we look at the GRADIENT trial and even the GRACE trial or all of our trials together, let me remind you that, Cushing's is a syndrome with many signs and symptoms, probably 20 or more signs and symptoms, and hypertension and hyperglycemia are just two of those examples. When you look at the results from GRADIENT, it supports a successful path to an NDA, because we see clinically significant improvements in all signs and symptoms of Cushing's syndrome, including improvements in blood pressure, blood glucose, weight, just to name a few. Now when it comes to blood pressure in all of our studies, we see an immediate drop in blood pressure that starts at week two…

Joe Belanoff

Analyst

Thank you, Bill. Next question, please.

Operator

Operator

Our next question comes from the line of Matt Kaplan of Ladenburg. Your line is now open.

Matt Kaplan

Analyst

Hi, guys. Can you hear me?

Joe Belanoff

Analyst

Yes. Please speak up, Matt, a little bit. It's a little fuzzy.

Matt Kaplan

Analyst

We'll try it out. Okay. Yes, thanks for taking the question and thanks for clearing up the question on GRADIENT. That was very helpful already. And then just with respect to the results you're seeing for Korlym during the quarter, can you talk a little bit about if you're seeing an impact of the CATALYST results, the initial results showing the prevalence in terms of additional screenings that are going on to identify patients with Cushing's?

Joe Belanoff

Analyst

Yes, Matt. Thanks very much for the question. I understand that. And I think, Sean Maduck, the President of our Endocrinology division, is best prepared to answer that question. Go ahead, Sean.

Sean Maduck

Analyst

Hi, Matt. Thanks for the question. And yes, I mean, the short answer is yes, we are starting to see some impact from CATALYST in those results. I will say though that it takes some time for those results to roll into guidelines and sort of practices and it's going to take some time to see the full effect. Our expectation is that, we will see the full effect later into 2025 and beyond. What I wanted to touch on though is that we have seen tremendous volume growth in 2024 and obviously that CATALYST was part of it, but I wanted to touch on specifically why. We're really just getting started and at the front of the curve of that growth. One, Joe mentioned in his early comments and that's that hypercortisolism is more prevalent than once thought, and it's no longer considered an ultra-rare disease. There's been multiple studies in the last couple of years that have highlighted this fact. CATALYST enforced it with the one in four number and even the most recent FDA guidance in 2023 highlighted that the number is bigger. So there's far more prevalence. Because of that prevalence, we're seeing more and more screening across multiple different physician groups. They're looking for these patients, they're finding them and the paradigm is shifting. But again, we're just at the beginning of that shift and we're confident that over time the screening is going to become a routine behavior. So with the increased recognition that this is more prevalent and the increased screening, we expect volume growth to be substantial in the near-term and into the long-term. I mean Korlym is a great product, but relacorilant is going to be even better. It shows efficacy across multiple and all signs and symptoms of Cushing's syndrome as Bill just walked through and Joe walked through in his comments and has significant safety benefit. It doesn't have the off target progesterone effects that we see with Korlym. It does not cause hypokalemia. It does not cause adrenal insufficiency and it does not cause QT prolongation, which really separates it from all the other products in the market. So because of this fact and because of the next 5 years.

Joe Belanoff

Analyst

Thank you, Sean. Next question please.

Operator

Operator

Our next question comes from the line of Swayampakula Ramakanth of H. C. Wainwright. Your line is now open.

Swayampakula Ramakanth

Analyst

This is RK from H. C. Wainwright. A quick question on the ROSELLA study. So in the prepared remarks, Joe, you're stating that, you expect that, you will have all the events that you need for analysis by the end of the year. So my question is, would you have enough time to even do the analysis and release the data, or do you think you will just get to the point of having enough events by the end of the year?

Joe Belanoff

Analyst

I'm going to pass you back to Bill for a second. But let me just answer your question generally. As opposed to other studies where, for instance, you have a 20-week, 24-week study with a double-blind period and you break the blind and you have the results, oncology studies are a little bit less determined, because you're waiting for a number of events to occur and you do your best calculation and of course, we have done that. Now I'll give you back to Bill to give you kind of specifics, but understand, that, lack of specificity in the and when a result will read out from an oncology study is just par for the course for oncology studies. But Bill, please go ahead.

William Guyer

Analyst

Yes. So I'll add a little bit more color, but I completely agree with that. So when you look at relacorilant plus nap paclitaxel, a key thing that differentiates it probably from any other drug or combination in a platinum resistant ovarian cancer is that we see a differential effect on duration of response. And that duration of response is what you're driving the PFS and OS benefit that we saw in Phase 2. So if you model that out, where we saw the greatest benefit in the Phase 2 trial is women who were living longer, especially 2x the amount of women who were living longer at year two for relacorilant plus Natpak versus Natpak alone. Now we're replicating that in a study that is two to three times larger. And so it does just come down to the number of women that are progressing. Now we hope the longer this goes, this shows that women are living even longer on relacorilant plus nap paclitaxel. But once we cross that number of events, my team and I are prepared to analyze that data and announce it as soon as possible. And we're on track to see that cross that endpoint by the end of the year and then analyze that data as soon as we can to then talk about it publicly and present it at a conference next year.

Joe Belanoff

Analyst

But we will release that information as soon as our analyses are done, Arcadia, it's obviously very important event. You'll hear about it. We just can't tell you what day it's going to be yet. Sure. Next question, please.

Operator

Operator

Our next question comes from the line of Joon Lee. Your line is now open.

Joon Lee

Analyst

Hi, thanks for taking our questions. Your characterization of GRADIENT seems to be as a supportive study, while GRACE is the pivotal. Is that view shared by the FDA?

Joe Belanoff

Analyst

Yes. And I'd like to pass you over to Charlie Robb, who handles all of our regulatory affairs and I think can really provide some very useful color to you. A – Charlie Robb: Hi, Joon. The answer is yes. And I think one thing I'm sure you understand, but maybe not all of our listeners do is, that, this isn't some dark art where we have to guess what's on the FDA's mind. I mean, there's published guidance as well as any conversations a sponsor may have where the FDA has made it clear that a single well-controlled study, which we have in the form of our GRACE and the data from GRACE, along with confirmatory evidence is sufficient to demonstrate a drug safety and efficacy. And where we see this growth going, we believe we're on a track to be a $3 billion business in the next five years. efficacy. Bill gave you really the strong clinical view, but I just wanted to underscore from the perspective of the person who has to go in with the team and present the arguments to the FDA, just what a good position we're in. I mean, we've studied as Bill pointed out relacorilant in more patients with Cushing's syndrome than any other company with approved treatments out there. We have a tremendous amount of data and our findings have been remarkably consistent from Phase 2 to GRACE to our extension study and now to GRADIENT. Patients who receive relacorilant got better across the entire range of Cushing's syndrome size and symptoms. It's really as simple as that. It's that easy an argument to prevent -- to present to the FDA. Q – Joon Lee: And when was the last interaction with the FDA? And have you already have a pre-NDA meeting with the FDA? It seems like you're trying to submit the NDA within weeks. So, just curious if you've already had that conversation with the company.

Joe Belanoff

Analyst

I mean, you'll appreciate, we don't comment on the particulars or interactions with the FDA. But I mean, I can say that we've talked to the FDA plenty about this program, about all of our programs and I foresee absolutely no impediments to getting our NDA in.

Joon Lee

Analyst

Got it. And one more please. Is the hyperglycemia endpoint separate from the placebo? I just wanted to clarify if that was the case.

Joe Belanoff

Analyst

The answer is, yes. But Bill, I'm going to just repeat the question that Joon said. Did the patients who were treated with relacorilant on the hyperglycemia endpoints separate from those who were treated with placebo?

William Guyer

Analyst

Yes. They were all statistically significantly different favoring relacorilant for all hyperglycemia endpoints and those endpoints got better even as we got higher A1C. So we hit it for all patients and we hit it also for patients who were sicker with over diabetes.

Joon Lee

Analyst

All right. Looking forward to the full data next year. Thank you.

Joe Belanoff

Analyst

Okay. Thank you, Joon. Well, thank you everybody for tuning in. I'll just repeat, this is for all those who followed us for a long time, there's been no more exciting time at Corcept. This is when things are really starting to happen and we really have an opportunity to help a much larger group of patients than we previously helped. So we're really very, very excited about this and look forward to sharing the next results for you and talking to you next quarter. Thank you.

Operator

Operator

This concludes the question-and-answer session. Thank you for your participation in today's program. You may disconnect.