Coherus BioSciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHRS) Q3 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

Dennis Lanfear: Thanks for your questions. With respect to R&D Day, given the delay in the approval of on body, we’re going to move that into Q1 from Q4. We want to have on-body approved and ready to go on the market because that’s going to be an important part of the story. So we’re going to move that out into Q1. With respect to IL-27 and liver, I’ll let Dr. LaVallee answer those two questions.

Theresa LaVallee: Thanks. We’re super excited about the clinical development plan. And in terms of presentations, we do have abstracts submitted on both the monotherapy and the HCC data to give the full data set and a more mature data set. So I would anticipate that later this year and early next year. And once the abstracts are accepted, we’ll make sure to publicize that. In terms of how it’s positioned, we’re very excited about the data to date and having a patient population more similar to the atezo-bev TIGIT HCC data than the Beijing program, and think that the data should be comparable within that round.

Yigal Nochomovitz: Okay. And then just one on the guidance. McDavid, I think you said for 4Q ’23, $85 million to $95 million. Any way you could just elaborate a little bit more in terms of the relative contribution from the three marketed products as to how that will get you into that range?

McDavid Stilwell: Sure. So earlier in the year, Denny provided insight into how we feel that the adalimumab market is shaping up and that we expect total YUSIMRY sales for the year in the single digits. And so that’s important to note as you think about where the portfolio guidance would go for the fourth quarter. So we expect most of the revenue growth in the fourth quarter to come from UDENYCA and CIMERLI.

Operator: Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Michael Nedelcovych with TD Cowen. Your line is now open.

Michael Nedelcovych: Thank you for the questions. I have two. My first is, given the shift in timing of revenues and the lowering of your top line guidance, has that impacted your development plans at all? I know we’ll learn more on the Q1 pipeline day call. But I’m curious if this has affected the scope of development for your pipeline portfolio as of where we stand right now? Or for example, would you perhaps replace anticipated revenues with other types of financing to more fully develop your pipeline? And then my second question relates to YUSIMRY. I’m curious if you attribute ABVI’s ability to hold on to such high share for so long, would you point to supply, the label, or perhaps price? Thank you.

Dennis Lanfear: Thank you for the question, Michael. First of all, with respect to the development plan, as I indicated in my opening remarks, we are significantly constraining all R&D expenses from — to the middle of 2024 because of the revenue picture, we are very, very cognizant that we need to bring our R&D expenses and our overall spend into alignment with our revenue. And so we have made very, very deliberate efforts to revise our development spend and minimize it, and I would say, into mid to next year. And no, we won’t be going to alternative forms of financing to support that. We think that’s really very, very important to move the company back to cash flow positivity and profitability, right? And so that’s something we’ll have to do till we get greater movement on the revenue.

With respect to our YUSIMRY, Humira has been able to hold on to a significant portion of the revenues there. I believe about 99%. Paul might have a little further color for you on the Humira and YUSIMRY revenue picture as a function of the placement on the formularies and so on. Paul?

Paul Reider: Yes. Thanks for your question, Michael. I think based on what AbbVie reported that it was really a lower price that’s driving their ability to maintain these formulary positions. So that’s what’s driving it. And again, I reiterate our strategy was very different. We intended to bring YUSIMRY to market for a segment of the business that desires a low, affordable, transparent price. And we’re going to build that business from the bottom up, and that’s working and our partners with Mark Cuban are really helping with that. So it’s two different strategies. We’re approaching this strategy, setting ourselves up for then the IRA in 2025, when we believe there will be a lot of different considerations by the PBMs and the payers when the cost shifts during the catastrophic phase from the government to the payers themselves.

Dennis Lanfear: Michael, the other point that I would make to you is I would just direct you to McDavid Stilwell’s comments. While we reduced the guidance — the revenue guidance for $15 million for 2023, we also reduced the spend guidance by $15 million. And I think this illustrates that we’ve been very, very responsible with respect to revenues and expenses are coming into alignment.

Operator: Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Douglas Tsao with H.C. Wainwright. Your line is now open.

Douglas Tsao: Hi, good morning. Thanks for taking the questions. So I guess, Paul, congrats on the progress that we’ve seen with CIMERLI. I’m sorry, having a little cough. When we think about the trends into the fourth quarter, should we expect to see some further acceleration? Or do you think that we’ll see sort of a little bit more of a linear trend in terms of adoption now that we have the J-code and — you’ve had the J-code in place for some time?