At the beginning of spring, Amarin was positioned to do very well with its cardiovascular drug Vascepa with anticipated huge growths on the stock market. The latest news may change this rapidly in light of Coronavirus fears.
As the latest to respond to Coronavirus fears, quarantines, and shutdowns, your cardiovascular drug could be impacted and difficult to get a hold of, or at least difficult to sell to your doctor by a pharmaceutical rep face to face. Amarin announced on March 15 that it will be suspending all interactions that are considered to be field-based and face-to-face interactions until March 30. The closure announcement comes with the understanding that the situation is rapidly changing and being closely monitored. This means that it could extend into April or beyond depending on how things progress and change.
The announcement that it would halt its cardiovascular drug Vascepa could be extremely harmful to Amarin stock. However, the company felt it could no longer put the employees at risk for contracting Covid-19.
During the halt, Amarin will be providing copay cards, samples, and educational materials instead of face-to-face visits. While this is a valiant effort, it is expected to flatten the originally expected rapid growth.
In the first quarter of 2019, Amarin gained $73.3 million in total revenue, up 67% from the previous year. Most of the growth was attributed to Vascepa. In the second quarter of 2019, these revenues once again increased. This time, by 91% for a total of $100.8 million with almost all of that coming from the Vascepa drug. In the third quarter, this revenue had increased to 103%, closing out the fourth quarter up 85% to $143.3 million.
With the announcement, the first quarter of 2020 revenue growth is expected to be down to lower than $130 million with a year-long decline of 50% or more. While this is devastating projections, cardiovascular disease remains the number one killer of Americans meaning that Vascepa will continue to be needed as we move forward despite the current downstream.
Meanwhile, generic manufactures Hikma Pharmaceuticals as well as Dr. Reddy’s, which are traded on the New York Stock Exchange as RDY and HKMPF are suing Amarin for the right to infringe on its patent protection for the Vascepa drug. The lawsuit was originally expected to have a ruling by the end of March. The decision on this may be extended in light of the Coronavirus fears as well.