Avadel Pharmaceuticals plc (NASDAQ:AVDL) Q1 2024 Earnings Call Transcript

Richard Kim: Yes, Oren. So just to be very clear, we had announced that we had over 1,700 patients initiated cumulatively through the end of the first quarter. We were at about 1,000 at the end of Q4. So that’s — in Q1 an additional over 700 patient initiations that occurred in Q1. So just to clarify. So this is the same metric that we’ve given before. So it’s just sort of taking the 1,700 and subtracting how we ended up in 2023.

Gregory Divis: Okay. Thank you.

Operator: Your next question comes from the line of Chase Knickerbocker with Craig Hallum.

Chase Knickerbocker: Good morning guys. A lot has been asked, maybe just a couple around the edges here. Now that we have more patients from the Naive and previously discontinued groups on drug, if we think about persistency specifically in these groups on LUMRYZ or trends in the larger population of people — patients on drug, now that they’re a bigger portion of your patients have trends and discontinuations at the one kind of two month time frame ticked up at all from these patients as they become a larger part of the mix. Basically, is there a higher level of discontinuation with these two patient populations?

Gregory Divis: Richard?

Richard Kim: Yes, thanks for the question, Chase. Yes. Overall, our discontinuation rate across all three segments is very strong. And if we look at our overall composition, it is lower than what we saw traditionally for twice on the oxybates. For the Naive and the discontinued like it was really just this quarter where they sort of stepped up in the representation. We are seeing slightly lower rates compared to the switch patients, but not meaningfully lower. So it’s still relatively early on. So we’re going to definitely watch those trends. So as I mentioned, it’s lower, but what we had sort of articulate is not meaningfully lower at this stage.

Chase Knickerbocker: Awful color. And then maybe another one for you, Richard. As we think about the pediatric opportunity. Obviously, Medicaid is a very important payer there. Can you update us on how coverage looks for LUMRYZ with Medicaid generally today? I know it’s likely to be different state-to-state, but just general color there.

Richard Kim: Yes. We are going through the process, Chase in Medicaid, as you know, takes a very, very long time. So we haven’t really had a significant amount of Medicaid usage come through at this stage. And we’ll provide more updates as we make more progress there. We also do have other assistance programs if patients are covered through our patient assistance. But at this stage right now, we’ve got — we’re still early in the process as far as getting our Medicaid coverage.

Chase Knickerbocker: Got it. And then 85% commercially covered lives plus there is an impressive number. Maybe anywhere else that you’re hearing from physicians as far as kind of key sticking points as far as coverage goes as far as making this — where you can kind of block and tackle from here to make this an — the easiest as possible kind of writing experience for them? And then just lastly, as far as any impact from change, the change in disruption cyber-attack on the quarter. Did we see any change in fill rates there? Was that kind of part of what it might have affected the quarter?

Richard Kim: Yes, sure. So as far as the — to your point, Chase, we’re really pleased with our commercial coverage. The team has done an excellent job in securing those nearly 85% commercial covered lives. And I would say, in general, we’re sort of in the same situation now with other established products where there’s just always going to be some bumps and roads for some patients going through. Now it’s have the patients met all the PA criteria and those sorts of things, even though that they’re covered. So we have an outstanding field reimbursement team that’s there to actually help walk offices through every step. And our goal is to really help sort of guide every new patient initiation through with our field reimbursement team to make it as easy as possible for the offices. And as far as your change health common is concerned, thus far, we have not seen any meaningful impact to any of our fill rates being impacted by them.

Chase Knickerbocker: Got it. Thank you guys.

Operator: Your next question comes from the line of Myriam Belghiti with LifeSci Capital.

Myriam Belghiti: Thanks for taking my question. And congrats on the quarter. I was just wondering if you could provide a little more detail in terms of the distribution of patients initiating therapy. I understand 50% is both discontinued in Naive, but can you provide a further breakdown of those two segments?

Richard Kim: Yes. Sure, Myriam. Thanks for the question. So yes, as we said, sort of we’ve seen — if we look at the overall gestalt of all of our patients thus far, the majority are switch patients Q1 was where we sort of saw more of a balance between the switches and the discontinued/Naive. And of those discontinued naive, they’re moderately balanced, but there definitely has been growth almost quarter-over-quarter for the Naive segment within that other bucket. So it’s a little bit more balanced in Q1, and we’ll sort of see where the trend is going forward, but it’s been nice to see the Naive segment start to tick up here over time.

Myriam Belghiti: Okay. And in terms of the IH opportunity, are there any important differences between IH and narcolepsy patients when it comes to cardiovascular risk or any relevant comorbidities when it comes to sodium intake?