Bausch Health Companies Inc. (NYSE:BHC) Q4 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

Michael Nedelcovych: Thank you for the questions, I have two. For the first, if you could transport us to late May, let’s assume that you had a wildly favorable ruling in the case against Norwich, such that Xifaxan’s exclusivity out to 2028 is all but certain. I know that as it relates to the Bausch & Lomb full separation, there are multiple additional factors to consider, but what is Item No. 2 on your checklist? So the Xifaxan ruling is done and its outlook is certain, what’s Item No. 2 when you move toward full separation? Then my second question relates to Amiselimod. As already been noted, there are two other S1P receptor modulators approved for UC, but their market reception so far has been lukewarm. Do you think that Amiselimod has better commercial prospects than the agents already approved, and if so, why is that?

Thomas Appio: Yes, so let’s take the first part of the question. I can’t speculate on what number two would be. As I said, there’s still many factors that go into the timing of the potential distribution, and clearly again we believe in our intellectual property and hoping for a favorable outcome, but there are a multitude of steps, so I can’t speculate on what number two would be, but clearly looking to a favorable outcome on the Xifaxan case. When it comes to Amiselimod, we’ve had a lot of discussions on this internally. Yes, the two that are out there are, as you use, lukewarm. We believe based on our data that we have a competitive product, a once-a-day treatment and oral, so clearly as we continue to look at it and build the Phase III program, I can give you more information as we move forward on the program and see what we think going forward.

But if we look at our data, again we think it’s positive and we think we have a really interesting product here. Operator, next question?

Operator: Thank you very much. That appears to be the last of our questions. I will now hand back over to Tom for any closing comments.

Thomas Appio : Okay, well since there’s no further comments, I want to say thank you to all who joined the call today. As we discussed on this call, we had a solid Q4 and 2023. We grew our company and delivered or exceeded our guidance. I would like to thank my over 7,000 colleagues around the world for their relentless drive to deliver better health outcomes and continue to build a company that is trusted and valued by patients, healthcare professionals and investors. We entered 2024 with strong momentum and look forward to executing on our strategic objectives, delivering on our commitments as we continue transforming Bausch Health, positioning our company for the long term. Thank you for your interest in and the support of Bausch Health.

Operator: Thank you very much everyone. This does conclude today’s conference. You may disconnect your phone lines at this time and have a wonderful day. Thank you for your participation.