Esperion Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESPR) Q1 2024 Earnings Call Transcript

Page 3 of 3

Joe Pantginis: Hey, everybody. Good morning. Thanks for taking the questions. So I wanted to approach the question also from the statin intolerance or long-term side effects and sort of overall concern from some patients in general, where right now all the focus is on HCPs and their views about the new label and we’re expecting to see that growth inflection as you guys are as well. So I guess I would ask the question from the following standpoint. Are you going to collect data? Or do you even want to sort of pontificate if you will about the role of patients in helping to drive those decisions. As you know, they’re much more savvy. They have Google and what have you or they’re saying “I haven’t had an option for a statin up to this point doctor but this really looks interesting”. How – what role do you think patients’ feedback will have in changing their treatment guidelines?

Eric Warren: It’s going to have a significant role Joe. So as Sheldon mentioned in the opening remarks, we do have a consumer base campaign that we’ve deployed as well. We call these little creatures the lipid lurkers and they’re out there. They’re present raking havoc. And we’ve put those forward in the digital universe. Just from a meta campaign perspective, we’ve seen 1.6 million exposures with the lipid lurkers and they’re present in many other platforms as well. So consumers play a significant role. Obviously, we’ve got to be very targeted. We don’t want to go to the broad consumer universe. We want to go to those who are target patient. And I think the team has done a great job so far at doing just that.

Sheldon Koenig: And Joe, just – first of all, good morning. What we saw last year or two after ACC and we did collect data is that consumers really went out there. When they saw information, et cetera to your point, consumers are very different. They’re well informed now. They want to find out more. And we saw a lot of them post ACC head out into their physicians’ offices and ask about NEXLIZET NEXLETOL we recently received some research, which shows that they’re doing it again. Eric and I were just mentioning when we were in the office that, even on our Instagram or Facebook we’re seeing these Lipid Lurkers and we’re also seeing the new campaign that we have. So, it’s definitely a big part of it. And people want to know about one, I have to — I don’t want to take a stronger dose of a statin or I don’t want to take a statin, because I can’t. So they’re very savvy about this.

Q – Joe Pantginis: No, I appreciate that color. Thank you very much.

Sheldon Koenig: Thank you, Joe.

Operator: Please standby for our next question. Our next question comes from Jason Zemansky with Bank of America. Your line is open

Q – Jason Zemansky: Thank you. Good morning, team. Congrats on the quarter and thanks for taking our questions. I apologize if I missed this, but to what extent did stocking and inventory build contributed to the quarter’s total? And then a follow-up, if I may.

Eric Warren: That’s a short answer, Jason. It was none. No effect on quarterly revenue.

Q – Jason Zemansky: Got it. Perfect. And then what should we be thinking about gross to net trends, as you start to bring more payers online especially, given the sizable patient population in primary prevention?

Eric Warren: Yes, I can take that one also. So as far as gross to net goes for the year, we expect it to follow the same cyclicality that we’ve seen in prior years. And as a reminder Q1, is our best quarter in Q4 is our worse. So it gets progressively worse of the year, largely driven by the Medicare coverage gap. As far as the actual percentage year-over-year, I would say, it’s going to be consistent the payers updating towards the UM criteria and adding that primary prevention, doesn’t necessarily change the rebate or any the amount paid to them. It’s just the indication covered. So as far as the actual gross to net number, we don’t really see that changing materially year-over-year. Just it will follow the same cyclicality, that it does every year.

Q – Jason Zemansky: Got it. I guess, I was looking for more color as to whether or not, payers were looking for more concessions, again, given kind of the sizable shift in overall population I guess overall moving forward.

Sheldon Koenig: I can take that Jason. I mean, we’ve been very pleased as Eric mentioned with our interactions with our payers. And the short answer to that is also, no. So and I think part of it is, just based upon the alignment that we gained, when we presented the data at ACC and went to them immediately. This is something that they’ve been prepared for. But there has not been a meaningful request, as it relates to what our new label update is, the best answer I can give you.

Q – Jason Zemansky: Got it. Okay. Perfect. Thank you so much for the color.

Operator: Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, I’m showing no further questions in the queue. I would now like to turn the call back over to Sheldon for his closing remarks.

Sheldon Koenig: Great. Thank you, Towanda. Thank you, everyone, again for your time and interest today. Again, we couldn’t be more pleased, with our first quarter performance. Our label approval and for what they mean for millions of primary and secondary prevention patients, who are unable to achieve their LDL-cholesterol goals, with current therapies alone. We look forward to continuing to execute on our commercial plan and keep posted on our progress in the weeks and months ahead. Look for us at the hostesses conferences, in the upcoming weeks. We have a real busy May in front of us. Take care, and see all of you soon. Thank you, again.

Operator: Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes today’s conference call. Thank you for your participation. You may now disconnect.

Follow Esperion Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:ESPR)

Page 3 of 3