March 2020 was a challenging month for everyone as the pandemic spread worldwide. But it was especially so for Amarin as its key patents for its lone product, fish oil derivative Vascepa, were invalidated.
The timing couldn’t have been worse. Just three months earlier, Amarin had earned a game-changing FDA approval for Vascepa, transforming it from merely a way to reduce cholesterol to a means of lowering the risk of cardiovascular disease.
But by August 2020, Dr. Reddy’s had launched a generic version of Vascepa in the US, soon to be followed by Hikma.
In response, Amarin revealed plans to prepare to market Vascepa around the world and to adjust its strategy in the United States. Last fall, Amarin cut its salesforce in the U.S. from 750 reps to 300 and used the saving to launch a digital “Go-to-Market” strategy designed to attract new users to Vascepa.
How’s it going so far? During its quarterly earnings call on Tuesday, Amarin said that it has gained 2,000 new prescribers in the U.S. The company believes it is reaching new markets with the approach.
“As a reminder, we were in launch mode in January of 2020 in the U.S. for six weeks when we had to pull all of the field force out of the market for the pandemic,” Amarin CEO Karim Mikhail said during a conference call Tuesday. “They were out of the market for six or seven months, until they went back for a month or two during the fall of 2020, then back again. So this has been a very, very disruptive launch.”
Mikhail added that many doctors in the U.S. are just now realizing the overall benefits of Vascepa.
“Many of them have not been properly exposed to the product and the message,” Mikhail said. “The marketing team has decided to focus on a patient population where the urgency to treat is more significant and that’s attracting physicians. They care more about a patients’ outcomes.”
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Managed care access remains a big focus for Amarin in the U.S. Mikhail said the company will remain a player by being “competitive" on that front.
Amarin reported $583 million in revenue for last year, a decrease from $614 million in 2020. Quarterly revenue was down 14% year over year, a sign that the company has a lot of work to do before it can begin increasing sales.
Amarin is not providing guidance on 2022 sales.
“The situation is very dynamic. It is very difficult to speculate how the year is going to evolve,” Mikhail said. “The biggest result out of (the new U.S. strategy) is a higher, more positive contribution margin. That is very critical for the investment and the growth of the company.”
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Keying that growth is the potential in Europe, which Amarin sees as a $1 billion market. The company also believes a $1 billion market exists outside of Europe and the U.S. It hopes to have launched in up to six countries by the end of this year and an additional nine by the end of 2023. China is another important target, with Amarin expecting approval for Vascepa there by the end of this year.