Brett Haumann
Analyst · Evercore ISI. Your line is now open
Thanks Rick. I'll begin on Slide 4, with our JAK inhibitor program TD-1473 is a novel potent orally administered and intentionally restricted pan-JAK inhibitor with the potential to treat a range of inflammatory intestinal diseases including ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease. TD-1473 is designed to remain localized and only act within the gut wall, thereby maximizing local anti-inflammatory efficacy and minimizing the systemic exposure that would otherwise lead to immunosuppression. As Rick, mentioned we recently executed a global collaboration agreement with the Janssen for the joint development and commercialization of 1473 and related backup compounds. As we discussed at the announcement of our agreements, this collaboration has the potential to benefit both 1473 and the company in a number of ways. First by immediately harnessing the expertise of Janssen we believe we can optimize the clinical strategy and execution of 1473, which is of particular importance in this competitive field of inflammatory bowel disease. Second, this collaboration allows us to accelerate and expand the scope of the development program with a plan to pursue multiple indications in parallel starting this year. And finally, our goal is to maximize the worldwide commercial opportunity for 1473 for Theravance Biopharma and our shareholders. And we think having Janssen as our partner now in advance of our registrational programs will enhance our overall probability of success and support achievements of this objective. We were pleased with the data from the first cohort of patients in our Phase 1b study in ulcerative colitis. As it demonstrated target engagements and biological activity and provided us and Janssen with confidence in initiating the Phase 2b/3 induction and maintenance study in ulcerative colitis and the Phase 2 induction study in Crohn's disease in second half of 2018. We don't view the remaining cohorts as gating our progression into these larger studies but the results may inform dose selection. In the current Phase 1b study enrollment is now complete and the last remaining patients are completing their four week treatment period. In recognition of our newly formed partnership with Janssen, we’ll be working with them to agree on the timing and mechanism of disclosure for the remaining data from the study. I’ll now turn to Slide 5 and TD-9855 or norepinephrine serotonin reuptake inhibitor in patients with an orphan condition called symptomatic neurogenic orthostatic hypertension or nOH, which affects the proportion of patients with Parkinson's disease, as well as the majority of patients with multiple systems atrophy, MSA and pure autonomic failure, PAF. Our exploratory Phase 2a study in patients with this rare syndrome is ongoing. And we continue to observe emerging signals of potential benefit for patients with symptomatic nOH in a single ascending dose portion of the study. Patients who respond in this portion are then eligible for a repeat dose phase that’s a five months of treatments. In which we're assessing the durability of response to 9855 with a primary assessment after four weeks of treatments. It's important to note that not all patients who respond in the single ascending dose are able to complete the repeat dose portion of the study. In some cases, they help us deteriorating rapidly, due to their underlying condition of Parkinson's disease, MSA or PAF. Sadly in extreme cases, the patient may not live long enough to progress into the repeat dose portion. As a result, the data we expect to report in the middle of this year will be from a limited number of patients that progressed to the four week time point. As this is a small exploratory study, we did not design it to demonstrate statistical significance. We are seeking to demonstrate a durability of effect on symptoms as we believe this could lead to significant benefits over existing therapy for nOH patients. We have learned from our exploratory study that nOH is a multifaceted disease and a number of symptoms contribute to patients disabling state. While no blood pressure is fundamental to the disease, it's evident that treating symptoms and function are also meaningful in this patient population. While the exploratory study is ongoing and recruitment is not yet complete, we're particularly interested in those patients who fail to accomplish a 10 minute standing test at baseline. This is a population in whom standing to undertake basic chores for example going to the bathroom or making a cup of coffee is impossible. They spend a majority of their waking hours in a wheelchair or lying down, the majority of the patients in our current study are not able to stand for 10 minutes at baseline. And these are the patients we believe will be most valuable in informing the clinical evaluation including dose selection for 9855. We're encouraged by what we know to-date about 9855, as well as our interactions with regulatory authorities regarding the future of the program. We'd like to be in a position to start Phase 3 late this year or early next year. So stay tuned for further updates. Turning to Slide 6 and revefenacin, our once-daily nebulized LAMA for the treatment of COPD. Last month, we announced the FDA had accepted our NDA submission for revefenacin and provided us with a PDUFA date of November 13, 2018. Also in this communication, the FDA stated it does not currently plan to convene an advisory committee to discuss the NDA. Our NDA submission is supported by positive results from two replicate pivotal Phase 3 efficacy studies and a 12-month Phase 3 safety study. If approved revefenacin will be well positioned as the first once-daily nebulized LAMA for COPD patients, our launch readiness activities in partnership with Mylan are ongoing. And we're pleased with the progress of our collaborative efforts. We recently completed our revefenacin Phase 3b study in approximately 200 COPD patients with suboptimal peak inspiratory flow rates or PIFR, the first prospective study of this nature ever conducted. The purpose of the PIFR study was to support commercialization of revefenacin. This study is not required for NDA approval. The study was designed to assess potential superiority of nebulized revefenacin versus handheld tiotropium delivered by the Handihaler device, in a broad population of COPD patients with suboptimal PIFR. The primary endpoints in the study was improvements in lung function as measured by trough FEV1 after four weeks of treatment. We saw numerical improvements for revefenacin over tiotropium in the overall population of moderate to very severe that is GOLD Stage 2, 3 and 4 patients. But these improvements with revefenacin were not statistically significant. And as a result, the study failed to meet the predefined thresholds for superiority. Importantly, in the prespecified subgroup of severe and very severe COPD patients. These are the GOLD 3 and 4 patients, which make up approximately 80% of the patients in the study. Revefenacin demonstrated nominally statistically significant and clinically relevant improvements versus tiotropium. This data provide very important insights to both inform future studies of revefenacin in COPD patients with suboptimal PIFR and direct our future efforts in identifying those patients than they benefit most from nebulized therapy. Revefenacin was well tolerated in the study with no new safety issues identified. Data from the Phase 3b study will be submitted to the FDA to support our overall safety package. Although as previously mentioned, the study itself is not required for product approval. We plan to publish data from the study at a future medical meeting or conference closer to the time we expect revefenacin to be approved and on the market. Finally, on Slide 7, I’ll touch on velusetrag, our 5HT4 agonist, which completed a Phase 2b study in gastroparesis last year. On this program, we've been in active dialogue with regulators regarding the Phase 3 requirements for gastroparesis. These discussions include agencies in the U.S. and Europe including a separate division in the U.S. FDA that provides guidance specific to patient reported outcome tools. We expect to provide an update regarding the next steps for velusetrag in the first half of this year. As a reminder, our partner for velusetrag outside the U.S. is Alfasigma. Under the collaboration agreement, Alfasigma paid for the majority of the Phase 2 program in gastroparesis and is now entitled to exercise an option to further develop and potentially commercialize velusetrag in the EU and certain other markets. The timing of this option period is of course linked to the time required to complete the necessary regulatory interactions. So we would also expect to provide an update on Alfasigma’s intent with velusetrag sometime in the first half of 2018. Should Alfasigma design to opt-in, this will result in a $10 million opt-in payment to Theravance Biopharma and rights to certain – rights to receive certain future milestones and royalties. Now I will pass the call over to Renée.
Renée Galá: Thank you, Brett. I will start with our financial results, then cover our 2018 financial guidance and close out with a quick update on our economic interest related to Trelegy Ellipta. Revenue for the fourth quarter and full year of 2017 was $4.5 million, and $15.4 million respectively, primarily related to U.S. net product sales of VIBATIV. R&D expenses for the fourth quarter of 2017 were $51.1 million, representing an increase of $9 million compared to same period in 2016. The increase is primarily due to increases in employee-related costs, share-based compensation and other expenses. Full year R&D expenses were $173.9 million or $151.2 million excluding share-based compensation expense. SG&A expenses for the fourth quarter of 2017 were $29.5 million, representing an increase of $9.2 million compared to the same period in 2016. The increase is primarily due to increases in employee-related costs and share-based compensation. Full year SG&A expenses were $95.6 million or $69.1 million excluding share-based compensation expense. Full year 2017 operating loss was $260.1 million or $211 million excluding share-based compensation. We entered 2018 in a well capitalized position with just over $390 million in cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities. This amount excludes the $100 million upfront payment received earlier this month from the recently announced global collaboration with Janssen. Now I'll move on to our financial guidance. For the full year of 2017 we incurred an operating loss excluding share-based compensation of approximately $211 million which is within our stated guidance of $205 million to $215 million. In 2018 we expect full year operating loss excluding share-based compensation will be lower in the range of $180 million to $200 million. While this range of guidance is broader than we would normally provide, we think it is appropriate given a number of factors. We have two large studies with TD-1473 that will be initiated in the second half of 2018, and timing of those studies will impact 2018 expense. Also based on the new revenue standard that went into effect recently, the amount of revenue we will recognize in 2018 related to the Janssen collaboration agreement is partially linked to these clinical timeline. We currently expect to recognize less than $25 million of the $100 million upfront payment in 2018. In addition, the timing of our ongoing development of TD-9855 will influence our 2018 operating loss. Specifically, we'd like to start a registrational program with TD-9855 before the end of the year, but we need durability data from the current Phase 2a study and to complete certain dialogues with the FDA in order to finalize our plans and timeline. As a reminder, our guidance does not include income-related to sales of Trelegy Ellipta. We will recognize income related to our economic interest in Trelegy below the operating line as other income. So for 2018 these amounts are not included as part of our financial guidance of operating loss excluding share-based compensation. I'll close with a brief update on our economic interest in Trelegy, the first once daily closed triple treatment for COPD. As Rick mentioned previously, in late 2017 Trelegy Ellipta gained approval in the U.S. and EU for the treatment of appropriate patients with COPD. Additionally, GSK and Innoviva have submitted a sNDA to expand the Trelegy label with data from the landmark impact study. With FULFIL and now the IMPACT study, the data shows superiority of triple therapy over dual therapy with significant reductions and exacerbation against Breo, Anoro and Symbicort. As reported by GSK, promotion of Trelegy Ellipta began in mid-November to 8,500 pulmonologist in the U.S. prior to expansion to primary care doctors in order to drive longer term success. Earlier this month GSK communicated they have made good progress on access with commercial and Medicare Part D coverage secured at several of the top national payers. Theravance Biopharma holds an economic interest in Trelegy that equates to upward tiering royalties of approximately 5.5% to 8.5% of worldwide net sales in Trelegy. This economic interest represents an important strategic asset to the company as both a future contributor of growth and an alternative source of funding for our pipeline. Now I will turn the call back over to Rick.