SAGE Therapeutics Inc Q4 2024 Earnings Call Transcript

The following is excerpted from the question-and-answer section of the transcript.

Question: Ritu Baral - TD Cowen - Analyst : Hi, guys. Thanks for taking the question. Barry, I wanted to ask about Biogen buy-in to the expansion of the marketing opportunity or the marketing effort. You mentioned that the sales force expansion is underway. It's in certain geographies. Can you elaborate on that? Specifically, has Biogen matched the personnel expansion that Sage has implemented or sort of the number and depth of the programs that Sage has put into place?

Question: Ritu Baral - TD Cowen - Analyst : Could we get a little more color on what the expanded efforts are?

Question: Shrunatra Mishra - Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC - Analyst : Hi, thank you for taking my question. This is Shrunatra on for Salveen. Could you please elaborate on the inventory dynamics for the quarter, noting the slight disconnect between the prescription growth and the sales growth? And also, could you speak to the proportion of free drugs being provided in 4Q?

Question: Anupam Rama - J.P. Morgan Securities LLC - Analyst : Hey, guys. Thanks so much for taking the question. Just thinking a little bit more acutely about the first quarter, given historical sort of quarterly seasonality in one Q in the industry due to payer dynamics, how are you thinking about this relative to how we should be thinking about ZURZUVAE potential headwinds in the first quarter? Thanks so much.

Question: Morgan Gryga - Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC - Analyst : Hi. Thanks for taking our question. I wanted to dig a little bit deeper on the sales force expansion -- and also this is Morgan on the phone for Vikram. So for this recent sales force expansion, how significant of a sales bump are you anticipating over time and how quickly does the addition of reps to the field result in incrementally higher revenues? And then additionally, how many reps were added through the last round of expansion and how large is the field force currently sitting? Thank you.

Question: Paul Matteis - Stifel, Nicolaus & Company, Inc. - Analyst : Hey. Thanks for taking my question. On the pipeline, Barry, can you just talk a little bit more about how you selected these indications? And I guess, taking a step back, neurodevelopmental disorders is an extremely challenging area for drug development, and you probably picked one of the hardest. DEEs, those are the toughest to treat epilepsies. Why are these the best uses for capital for Sage going forward over other alternatives? Thanks.

Question: Paul Matteis - Stifel, Nicolaus & Company, Inc. - Analyst : Right. And Barry, when do you think you could get POC for each of these?

Question: Tazeen Ahmad - BofA Global Research - Analyst : Hi, thanks for taking my question. Sorry if you already addressed it in your prepared remarks, but can you just talk a little bit about the dynamics of inventory? What have they been, and how should we be thinking about incorporating that into our estimates for 2025? Thanks.

Question: Ami Fadia - Needham & Company, LLC - Analyst : Hi, good evening. Thanks for taking my question. Just with regards to the additional investments that you highlighted, whether it's through DTC and some of the other sort of media and education efforts, can you try and quantify by how much you're increasing that? And with regards to the sales force expansion, is there additional expansion anticipated later this year? And at this point, in terms of investments from Sage and Biogen, is it sort of about equal or if you could sort of share any details on Biogen's role in that, that'll be helpful. Thank you.

Question: Douglas Tsao - H.C. Wainwright & Co., L.L.C. - Analyst : Hi, good afternoon. Thanks for taking the question. Just curious, you've obviously had a lot of success getting the OB-GYNs to prescribe. Are you surprised that you haven't had more penetration with psychs? Thank you.

Question: Douglas Tsao - H.C. Wainwright & Co., L.L.C. - Analyst : Okay, great. And just as a follow-up, the question I've gotten from investors in terms of 319 and the SAD and MAD data that you'll have this year, I'm just curious, I think it'd be helpful to provide some additional perspective on beyond just the exposure, but what types of information you'll get from that study that will give people confidence that you have an active drug. I mean, obviously, you won't have clinical data in terms of patients, but just in terms of what you'll see that should give people increased confidence that this will ultimately have success in the clinic. Thank you.

Question: Uy Ear - Mizuho Securities USA, LLC - Analyst : Hey, guys. Thanks for taking our question. Just breaking away a bit from the other questions. Just wondering what -- maybe could you help us understand a little bit what's going on with the agreement with your collaborator in Japan, Shionogi? Are you expecting any milestones or anything to that effect? I think they are expecting -- or there could be a decision on their MDD application sometime in September. Thanks.

Question: Uy Ear - Mizuho Securities USA, LLC - Analyst : Could you maybe just speak a little bit about the potential opportunity in Japan? For what reasons (multiple speakers)

Question: Joel Beatty - Robert W. Baird & Co. Incorporated - Analyst : Hi. Thanks for taking the question. Could you give a sense of how sensitive the market is to marketing to physicians versus raising awareness among inpatients? And are scripts tending to come for patients who are already aware of ZURZUVAE and asking about it or more about patients who may not have heard of it before?

Question: Sumant Kulkarni - Canaccord Genuity Securities LLC - Analyst : Good afternoon. Thanks for taking our question. Given what we know about the size of the PPD market in terms of patient and prescriber numbers, do you believe this collaboration is required to get commercialization right on ZURZUVAE? And how would you characterize the sales force's level of focus with all the stuff that's going on in the background?

Question: Joon Lee - Truist Securities - Analyst : Thanks for taking our questions. What proportion of the patients who get ZURZUVAE are getting it as their first-line therapy? And for those who are diagnosed with PPD but getting some form of pharmacotherapy other than ZURZUVAE, what are some of the challenges there? Is this an issue of access or something else like perception as a novel drug with relatively less safety data? Thank you.

Question: Basma Radwan - Leerink Partners LLC - Analyst : Hi, this is Basma on for Marc. Thank you for taking our question. Can you provide some color on the gross and net in the quarter, given that there was higher -- greater demand, but the revenue kind of seemed to be flattish, if you compare the fourth quarter to the third quarter? And also, we have another question about, can you tell us now after one year from the launch if any of the treated patients needed to receive more than one treatment course? If so, can you provide some color on the proportion of these patients and whether there has been any pay of pushback. Thank you. REFINITIV STREETEVENTS | www.refinitiv.com | Contact Us consent of Refinitiv. 'Refinitiv' and the Refinitiv logo are registered trademarks of Refinitiv and its affiliated companies. FEBRUARY 11, 2025 / 9:30PM, SAGE.OQ - Q4 2024 SAGE Therapeutics Inc Earnings Call