BOTHELL – Thanks to growing sales of Cialis, ICOS Corp. said it hopes to reduce its losses from nearly $200 million in 2004 to less than half that in 2005.
The Bothell-based biotechnology company also addressed the concerns of some investors that the erectile dysfunction drug market isn’t growing at its previous rate.
Leonard Blum, ICOS senior vice president for sales and marketing, pointed to industry figures showing that drug category grew by 11 percent in the United States last year, and by even more overseas.
“That’s a pretty healthy rate of growth, in contrast to more pessimistic opinions sometimes heard,” Blum said, referring to several national media reports on the growth potential for erectile dysfunction drug sales.
“We believe that market growth, along with our market share growth, will be sufficient for improved revenue performance by Cialis,” he said.
In 2004, the first full year Cialis was available in this country, the drug racked up worldwide sales of $552 million, meeting earlier forecasts made by ICOS. Only part of the sales revenue goes to ICOS, as it first flows through a joint venture with Eli Lilly &Co.
Total revenue to ICOS, including money from contract manufacturing work and licensing of technology, was $74.6 million, down about $500,000 from 2003.
Conversely, total operating expenses for the year totaled nearly $142 million, up about $12 million from the previous year.
That resulted in a net loss for last year of $198 million, well below the forecast loss of up to $275 million. The 2004 loss, equal to $3.13 a share, compares with a $125.5 million loss in 2003.
Overall, it was “a pretty solid quarter,” said analyst Paul Latta with McAdams Wright Ragen in Seattle. Cialis sales are “meeting our expectations, if not our dreams,” he said.
Paul Clark, chairman and chief executive officer of ICOS, said the company’s net loss for 2005 is expected to range between $57 million and $77 million, thanks primarily to smaller advertising costs and increased sales of Cialis.
Latta called the forecast “somewhat bullish,” but said ICOS’ projections are “achievable numbers.”
ICOS also is moving ahead with tests to determine whether Cialis can treat a common prostate condition as well, Clark said.
Second-phase clinical trials of Cialis on benign prostatic hyperplasia began in last year’s fourth quarter, with results likely to be known by the end of this year. BPH, which describes the enlargement of the prostate in older men, can cause frequent urination and related symptoms.
Clinical trials also moved forward on IC485, which may help chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
“We’re working hard to improve our pipeline,” Clark said, noting the company’s other potential drugs could move into the clinical testing stage this year.
He also said attempts by Pfizer, the maker of Viagra, to claim its patent covers the basic mechanism in drugs such as Cialis have failed in the European Union.
“Simply stated, we won,” he said, though Pfizer’s U.S. lawsuit against ICOS, essentially claiming the same thing, has not yet been resolved.
Reporter Eric Fetters: 425-339-3453 or fetters@heraldnet.com.
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