REDWOOD CITY, Calif., April 13, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Coherus BioSciences, Inc. (“Coherus” or “the Company”, Nasdaq: CHRS), today announced preliminary unaudited revenue for UDENYCA® and net income for the quarter ended March 31, 2020. Coherus also provided an update on the impact of COVID-19 for first quarter 2020 as well as additional insights on COVID-19 impact for the balance of 2020.
First Quarter 2020 Financials and UpdateThe Company expects preliminary unaudited first quarter 2020 net product revenue to be between $115.0 million and $117.5 million, a 210% to 217% increase compared to the net product revenue of $37.1 million for the first quarter of 2019. Preliminary unaudited first quarter 2020 net income is expected to be between $33.5 million and $38.0 million, compared to a net loss of $(20.0) million for the first quarter of 2019. These financial results reflect a modest COVID-19 impact in March 2020.First quarter 2020 showed good unit growth for the pegfilgrastim class with the last four weeks of March having 6% growth over the previous four weeks according to the IQVIA March 27, 2020 report. A 6% increase, year-over-year, for pegfilgrastim was also seen according to the report. Specifically, UDENYCA® saw a 7% unit growth in the last four weeks ending March 27, 2020 over the previous four weeks as the COVID-19 crisis accelerated.Second Quarter 2020 and Second Half 2020 InsightsThere are reasons to expect that the adverse effects we are experiencing and expect to continue to experience from COVID-19 in the second quarter and second half of 2020 will be transient and most significant during the period that the COVID-19 pandemic is having its greatest impact on the medical system and personal behaviors. We expect that patients and physicians will balance the need for the administration of drugs, such as pegfilgrastim, which are indicated for curable cancer treatment or other serious diseases against the risks associated with COVID-19.Patients who have already initiated chemotherapy, especially with curative intent, appear to be continuing on therapy, as any dose reduction or delay could have a significant impact on survival.Coherus believes referrals and cancer diagnoses could recover as referring providers determine ways to navigate the new environment and previously delayed treatments are initiated.“We think it’s important when projecting second quarter COVID-19 impact to look primarily at recent pegfilgrastim sales and demand data in the context of current customer feedback, and not to impute trends from other drugs such as antiemetics. Additionally, any preliminary usage trends for such drugs at an early stage of the Covid-19 crisis may not be good predictive models for overall pegfilgrastim use, or pegfilgrastim use during the second quarter of 2020,” stated Chris Thompson, Senior Vice President, Sales at Coherus.Declines in referrals and cancer diagnoses are potentially compensated for by revised National Comprehensive Cancer Network (“NCCN”) treatment guidelines that recommend growth factor use in chemotherapy regimens where there is at least a 10% risk of febrile neutropenia. This new guidance expands the previous guidelines of a greater than 20% risk of febrile neutropenia, thereby potentially increasing overall usage of pegfilgrastim.About Coherus BioSciences, Inc.Coherus is a leading biosimilar company that develops and commercializes its own high-quality therapeutics as well as those of others seeking capable access to the United States market. Biosimilars are intended for use in place of existing, branded biologics to treat a range of chronic and often life-threatening diseases, with the potential to reduce costs and expand patient access. Composed of a team of proven industry veterans with world-class expertise in process science, analytical characterization, protein production, sales and marketing and clinical-regulatory development, Coherus is positioned as a leader in the global biosimilar marketplace. Coherus commercializes UDENYCA® (pegfilgrastim-cbqv) in the U.S. and has received regulatory approval for UDENYCA® in the European Union. Coherus is advancing late-stage clinical products CHS-1420, a Humira® (adalimumab) biosimilar, Bioeq’s Lucentis® (ranibizumab) biosimilar and Innovent’s Avastin® (bevacizumab) biosimilar towards commercialization, and early-stage clinical products, CHS-2020, an Eylea® (aflibercept) biosimilar, and CHS-131, a small molecule for nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) and multiple sclerosis. For additional information, please visit www.coherus.com.Forward-Looking StatementsExcept for the historical information contained herein, the matters set forth in this press release are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the “safe harbor” provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including, but not limited to, Coherus’ expectations regarding the continued adoption of UDENYCA® in the U.S. and estimation of channel mix, returns, chargebacks and rebates, each of which impact the net product revenue and net income computations. Such forward-looking statements involve substantial risks and uncertainties that could cause Coherus’ actual results, performance or achievements to differ significantly from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Such risks and uncertainties include, among others, the risks and uncertainties associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, risks inherent in the clinical drug commercialization and development process; the risks and uncertainties of the regulatory approval process, including the timing of Coherus’ regulatory filings; the risk that Coherus is unable to complete commercial transactions and other matters that could affect the availability or commercial potential of Coherus’ biosimilar drug candidates; and the risks and uncertainties of possible patent litigation. All forward-looking statements contained in this press release speak only as of the date on which they were made. Coherus undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements. For a further description of the risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ from those expressed in these forward-looking statements, as well as risks relating to Coherus’ business in general, see Coherus’ Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2019, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on February 27, 2020 and its future periodic reports to be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.In addition, with respect to COVID-19, we are currently unable to reasonably estimate the extent or duration of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our financial and operating results. We are also unable to predict how the pandemic will affect the availability of physicians and/or their treatment prioritizations or the impact of the outbreak on the overall healthcare infrastructure. In addition to impact on sales volumes, we are experiencing and may experience other disruptions as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, including restrictions on the ability of Company personnel to travel and access customers; delays in approvals by regulatory bodies; delays in product development efforts; and additional government requirements to “shelter in place” or other mitigation efforts that may further impact our or our suppliers’ capacity to manufacture and sell UDENYCA®. The total impact of these disruptions could have a material impact on our financial condition, cash flows and results from operations.UDENYCA® is a trademark of Coherus BioSciences, Inc.ContactDavid S. Arrington
Investor Relations & Corporate Affairs
Coherus BioSciences, Inc.
darrington@coherus.com
+1 (650) 395-0196
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