Vivus Q2 Loss Widens As Qsymia Sales Miss Estimates, Shares Drop 3%

(RTTNews) - Obesity drug Qsymia maker Vivus, Inc. (VVUS) reported Tuesday a loss for the second quarter that was wider than last year, as revenues from its only commercial drug fell short of estimates. The results were also impacted by charges and increased marketing costs on the drug.

The Mountain View, California-based biopharmaceutical company reported a net loss of $55.51 million or $0.55 per share for the second quarter, wider than $24.05 million or $0.24 per share in the prior-year quarter.

Results for the latest quarter include $2.8 million related to the proxy contest and a total charge of $4.4 million for Qsymia inventories on hand in excess of demand, plus a purchase commitment fee due to the manufacturer of Qsymia.

On average, 12 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report earnings of $0.44 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Net product revenue from sales of obesity drug Qsymia was $5.53 million, while analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected revenues of $12.76 million for the quarter.

For the second quarter, there were about 81,000 Qsymia prescriptions dispensed, of which about 24,000 were dispensed under the free trial offer.

Qsymia, Vivus' only commercial product, was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in mid-July 2012. It became only the second obesity drug to be approved by the FDA in thirteen years, and the first ever once daily combination treatment.

Qsymia, formerly known as Qnexa, has been approved for use in adults who are obese or overweight with at least one weight-related condition such as high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, or high cholesterol.

The company intensified its commercialization activities for Qsymia, as the initial sales of the drugs were below expectations. Selling, general and administrative costs for the quarter leaped to $42.7 million from $15.4 million in the same quarter last year.

The company on July 22 appointed Michael Astrue to serve as its chairman and Anthony Zook to serve as its new chief executive officer following a settlement reached with its largest shareholder First Manhattan Co. or FMC, regarding their proxy contest related to the company's 2013 annual meeting of stockholders.

Zook is now named to replace Wilson as CEO. Wilson has also agreed to serve in an advisory role to Vivus to ensure a seamless leadership transition. Zook is a former AstraZeneca Plc (AZN) executive. He has held various positions in AstraZeneca's sales and marketing organization in a career of 16 years.

VVUS closed Tuesday's regular trading session at $14.73, down $0.08 or 0.54% on a volume of 2.17 million shares. The stock lost a further $0.48 or 3.26% in after-hours trading.