Agile Therapeutics, Inc.

Q2 2021 Earnings Conference Call

7/26/2021

spk01: Good day and thank you for standing by and welcome to the Agile Therapeutics Q2 2021 Financial Results and Business Update Conference Call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. After the speaker's remarks, there will be a question and answer session. To ask a question during the session, you will need to press star 1 on your telephone. Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded. If you require any further assistance, please press star 0. I would now like to hand the conference over to your speaker today, Matt Riley, head of investor relations. Please go ahead.
spk06: Hello, everyone, and welcome to today's conference call to discuss our second quarter 2021 financial results and corporate update. Before we start, let me remind you that today's call will include forward-looking statements based on current expectations, including statements concerning our financial outlook for the future, management's expectations for our future financial and operational performance, our business strategy, our assessment of the combined hormonal contraceptive market, and the potential market share for Torella, among other statements regarding our plans, prospects, and expectations. Such statements represent our judgments as of today, are not promises or guarantees, and may involve risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ from the results discussed in the forward-looking statements. Please refer to our filings with the SEC, which are available through the investor relations section of our website, for more information concerning risk factors that may affect the company. We undertake no obligation to update forward any statements except as required by law. The information on today's call is not intended for promotional purposes and not sufficient for prescribing decisions. Joining me on today's call are Al Altamari, Agile Therapeutics Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, and Dennis Riley, Chief Financial Officer. Following our prepared remarks, we'll open the call to your questions. Let me now turn the call over to Al.
spk08: Thank you, Matt. Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for joining us for the second quarter 2021 earnings call. I've been looking forward to this call for a long time, and I want to thank you in advance for joining us. I'm going to jump right into the theme of today's call, growth. we're both encouraged and excited by. In the past, you've heard us talk about our future plans for Twrla. Now that conversation begins and ends with the brand's growth. So we'll start today by outlining the progress we are seeing and providing some context on why we believe growth is encouraging. We will then discuss why and how we believe we can sustain and accelerate that growth. Finally, I'll have Dennis do a quick update on our financial position before opening the lines for Q&A. Let's talk about Torello's performance. We've now completed our second full quarter as a launched and commercialized brand. Last quarter, we started to see steady upward trends of increasing scripts, refills, and awareness of our product. And as expected, that growth has continued through the second quarter. On slide four, You will see the quarterly performance since our Q4 2020 launch, and we see growth on all key performance metrics. From the end of Q1 2021 to the end of Q2 2021, we saw total prescriptions, or TRXs, increase 171%. New prescriptions, or NRXs, increased 103%. And the refill rate grew 355%. While we saw significant growth in these performance metrics quarter-over-quarter, there's also consistent pattern of growth. When we break down the quarter and examine the data month-over-month, as you'll see on slide five, during quarter two, month-over-month growth of TRXs was 35.2% in April, 26.5% in May, and 31.4% in June. Enteroxys were 20.4% in April, 10.4% in May, and 31.2% in June. And refills were 70.6% in April, 35.9% in May, and 40.6% in June. One other view of the data we track is on a four-week rolling average that we discussed in our last call, and that's very consistent with our quarterly and monthly growth. We are encouraged by the fact that we're seeing consistent brand growth at the quarterly, monthly, and four-week levels. Please note that these results do not include sales in the non-retail channel, which includes clinics, institutions, hospitals. In the second quarter, we sold an additional 2,291 units into the non-retail channel. Because we're so focused on TRX growth, I wanted to highlight what we think is an important contributor to that growth and the health of our brand, new prescriptions and refills, both of which grew in quarter two. Every time we acquire a new patient start, we are potentially acquiring a customer for some time to come. Each NRX, has the potential to manifest itself as a repeat customer with an extended time value to the brand because NRXs can lead to refills, which can drive TRX growth. We are confident in the health of Turola because we're seeing NRXs translate to refills and the potential for more patients to stay on the brand, which can in turn lead to more sustained growth. This leads me to a question I've heard from some of you as analysts. and some investors. How does your growth compare to other combined hormonal contraceptives? And how should we think about these refills and these NRXs? This is a new metric we're going to be talking about. You know, so we've never showed you before because it was still very early in the launch. I want to show you now on slide six a graph comparing the initial stages of the launches of Twirla to low, low estrogen FD, a low-dose prescription birth control pill and one of the biggest brands in the combined hormonal contraceptive market. This slide compares the ratios of T-Rexes to something you may not look at very often, NP-TRX, which are prescriptions for patients new to our product, Torla, and low, low estrogen. In other words, the percentages of T-Rexes that consist of prescriptions for patients who have never used our product before. These ratios increase when more new patients continue to fill their prescriptions. Over the first 26 weeks of launch, low, low estrogen FTE developed a steady NREX volume that translated in the refills, which contributed to the growth of the brand for years after the launch. The total prescription to new product prescriptions ratios helped us understand whether we were building a base for future potential growth. And when you look at the curves on slide six, They're similar over a comparable period of time. While we're still in the early stages, Twirla's steady ratio of total prescriptions to new-to-product prescriptions suggests the brand could potentially sustain long-term growth. I want to be clear. We're not suggesting Twirla will achieve the market share success that LoloExtra has. And it's important to remember that prescription volumes underlying these curves were much larger for LoloExtra than they are for Twirla. But we believe one of the keys to a healthy, steady, growing brand is to deliver strong total prescriptions to new to product prescription ratios, which is evidenced here by both of these brands. Of course, new prescriptions and subsequent refills are not possible without growing our prescriber base. On slide seven, you'll see prescribers' growth over the course of Torello's launch. As of March 31st, 2021, we had told you we had 855 writers. And at the end of quarter two, June 30th, 2021, that number has grown to 2,087, and that number continues to grow throughout the third quarter. Again, you'll see here that the quarter-to-quarter growth is supported at a more granular level over month-to-month as seen on slide eight. The growth in the number of providers writing prescriptions for TWRLA has steadily contributed to a steady momentum in TRX growth. Also important to note is that the number of TRXs each prescriber is writing, or their productivity, if you will, also continues to grow. Based on the early performance growth we are seeing with Twirla and how that compares to the growth trajectory of another brand we consider to be a successful category, we're pleased with the progress and the health of Twirla. But the question we consider to challenge ourselves is, how do we accelerate and sustain that growth? And the answer is focusing on two major efforts, market access and our marketing efforts to pursue this goal. So, I'm going to start with market access. We are seeking to increase access to Twrla through a variety of efforts, including a focus on expanding access and reimbursement coverage for Twrla across commercial and government health insurance plans. In the second quarter of 2021, we expanded our Medicaid coverage. Torello is now available to Medicaid patients in approximately 75% of the states, either through traditional Medicaid and or managed Medicaid. With these new additions, we have coverage of approximately 50% of the total Medicaid transdermal or TRX market with no restrictions. Overall, we have access to approximately 55% of commercial and government CHC claims. We are encouraged by this trend, and we view this as another source of ongoing market growth for Twirla. We remain committed to expanding access for Twirla for all appropriate women interested in using our product. In addition to managed care and Medicaid access, we are now exploring access through additional state and university clinics, Planned Parenthood, and other non-retail sites in an effort to make Troila available to women everywhere. For example, we saw significant growth in the non-retail volume in state clinics in quarter two. Now onto marketing. We believe the performance metrics we reviewed at the top of the call reflect what we consider to be a very smart approach to DTC marketing spend. As I said last quarter, we've made a large incremental branded consumer marketing spend quarter over quarter, starting in quarter two, while maintaining our discipline approach and making the right investments at the right time to encourage strategic growth. As healthcare provider awareness increased leading up to and throughout the second quarter, We made what we believe to be appropriate and necessary increase in branded DTC digital marketing investments in late May and early June. So your takeaway here is that we're very encouraged by the growth we're seeing based on a very disciplined DTC spend. So we expect TRX, NRX, and refills all to continue to grow as more and more women in our target audience gain exposure to Twirla advertising. Last quarter, we mentioned we're expanding Fro's brand digital efforts to a targeted audience by advertising on the dating app, such as Tinder and OkCupid. And now we can report that relationship in less than a month has exceeded our expectations. Moving forward, we'll expand our presence on the dating app, advertising on Spotify, and engaging influencer partnerships, all designed to drive awareness and ultimately trial for Fro's. In addition to the digital meeting campaign, we have identified and are pursuing new opportunities to drive consumer awareness and potentially lead to future growth. At our next earning call, we look forward to sharing with you progress on partnering with additional channels like telemedicine, as well as potentially Planned Parenthood and student health centers. Again, we believe all these efforts contribute to awareness, which we expect to contribute to more new starts and in turn lead to higher refills and ultimately stronger TRX performance. We believe all these components are a sign of a healthy brand and longevity for potential future growth. Before I turn the call over to Dennis, I want to reiterate that we remain steadfast in our belief that at peak, Twirla can capture up to 5% to 8% of the $4.1 billion combined hormonal contraceptive marketplace. Thank you, and I'll turn it over to Dennis to talk about our financials.
spk07: Thanks, Al, and thanks to everyone for joining. As Al commented, we're really excited about the growth potential of our business, and I want to give you more clarity around second quarter from a financial perspective, including a bit more detail on how Trollis performance has been trending year to date and some general parameters on how to think about our results for the full year. If you are following along in the deck, I'll be taking you through what is included on slide 11. Wholesalers completed their work down of inventory levels from the initial stocking level last December and As a result, we realized $1.2 million in net product sales revenue for the second quarter of 2021. The rate of inventory depletion came broadly in line with our expectations, and we anticipate that going forward, our product sales revenue will more closely track to increasing script demand and that wholesaler restocking should then more closely reflect retail sales. This aligns with our initial full-year expectations for Twrla, which were based on the assumption that sales growth would increase in 2021 as product samples are worked through, our prescriber base expands, patient awareness of Twrla increases, refills begin to occur, And overall, we gained traction in the CHC market. Regarding our quarterly costs, our cost of product revenues for Q2 were $1.1 million, which included expenses for supporting our manufacturing and distribution, as well as personnel costs, and a half a million dollars of non-cash depreciation expense. We expect these fixed costs will become less significant as our sales grow with anticipated value. Our operating expenses were $16.7 million in Q2 versus $10 million the same period a year ago. We expect our third quarter expenses to be similar to this, but they could be a million or two either way. It's a function of how fast sampling and other costs come. But these are relatively stable costs for us. as we closed out the second quarter with a net loss of $17.6 million, or $0.20 per share, compared to a loss of $10.8 million, or $0.12 per share, for the comparable period in 2020. At June 30, 2021, we had cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities, of $31.1 million, compared to $54.5 million at year-end 2020. As a reminder, we have access to a $25 million capital through our loan facility with perceptive advisors, including a tranche of $15 million in 2021 and a tranche of $10 million in the future. They'll be available both contingent on a predetermined revenue target. We'll continue to monitor our spending closely. And if needed, we have the ability to modify our sales and marketing spend. additionally we have the potential to access additional capital through our atm are at the market facility which we can raise up to 50 million in gross proceeds to date we've sold seven million dollars under this through common stock through the atm our team continues to be excited for what lies ahead we believe we have established and remain encouraged by the momentum for 12. We remain focused on maintaining our disciplined and nimble approach and making the right investments to encourage strategic growth and maximize shareholder value. With that, we are happy to take your questions. Operator, you may now open up the line for Q&A.
spk01: Thank you. At this time, I would like to remind everyone, in order to ask a question, press star, then the number one on your telephone keypad. Again, that is star, then the number one on your telephone keypad. We'll pause for just a moment to compile the Q&A roster. We have our first question coming from the line of Oren Leibniz with HU Wainwright. Your line is open.
spk02: Hi, guys. Thanks for the questions. I'm sure you're aware that there is a pretty big discrepancy out there in some of the third-party data services from Symfony and IQVIA. I happen to generally rely on the latter, and it looks like it was more than 2x the volume, I guess. you guys quoted and what Symphony is saying for 2Q. So I'm just wondering if you can talk a little bit about if you have any understanding through your diligence as to what that may or may not be and where that's coming from. It seems to have maybe corrected in the last couple of weeks. And then help us understand going forward if the lower Symphony volume is the right number, what kind of economics should we be thinking of around those prescriptions or those slightly higher dispensed prescriptions out to pharmacy you're seeing so we can model this going forward. And I do have a follow-up. Thanks.
spk08: Hi, Oren. Thanks for the call. So Symphony and IQVIA, we are Symphony prescribers. We get a little of the IQVIA data. They're really not off. You have to look at this, Oren, in two buckets, if you will. There's the retail segments. You know, you just can't look at TRX, I guess my point. If you look at retail, which is where the bulk of the prescriptions go through, they're not off. They're really not off. So the way we look at our business, we say what's gone through retail, which is the more traditional channels of pharmacies. And then in this segment, it's different. There's a pretty big all other category that we started describing. We got some business that ran through there and some of the mail order business and things like that. So We think what happened, and the operative word is we think, that IQVIA's algorithms that forecast or trend these all other categories, you know, we're off. And, you know, we alerted them. that we think there was you know was off and i think they did correct themselves so i think the way we look at the business board and the way we model we say let's model the traditional channel which is retail it's not they aren't all you know the two services and then we if you will we layer in the all other channel on top of that you know saying okay what else is happening the all other category because the all other category orange is a little bit lumpy you know there's there's you know, big purchases sometimes. You know, a lot of our mail order scripts are going to our partner Sterling. And the algorithm is just sort of projecting it, we think. And I really emphasize the word we think because we've spent a little bit of time, we are aware of it. For instance, the bulk of the Bloomberg term was rely on symphony. So I know a couple of you rely on IQVIA, but we did the best we can to stay on top of it. But, you know, the sweet spot of the market, meaning the retail segment, where the bulk of the patient goes through there, The databases are very similar, if that makes sense.
spk02: Yeah. Okay. And then just to the basic, I guess, growth to nets, you know what your contracts are. I do want to touch on contracts again in a follow-up. And I guess you can see the volume going out the door and what you're shipping to wholesalers to restock. But how do you think we should think about growth to nets now and Q2 and going forward to sort of come out with a realistic value per script, so to speak?
spk08: Sure. We haven't guided it, and, you know, we're still on a bit of a moving target. We mentioned these Medicaid contracts. You know, we're just getting them under our belt. And then, you know, going forward, to project growth in that, we have to say how much of our business is going to go through Medicaid. So, you know, until we get all the basic contracts up and running, you know, we haven't been able to guide it. So we're still trying to get our arms around it because it really does depend on the mix of patients. We know what we pay for commercialized. We know what he paid for Medicaid lives, but until we see how much of our business runs through each channel, you know, we're not in a really great position to, you know, do much of the rest of that. But all in all, you know, we like the contracts. We like the access. Our primary goal is access at a decent price, and I think we've achieved that.
spk02: Okay, and just to talk about access, you know, like I have no doubt that, you know, you're demand is ultimately way higher than where it is today, and a massive market is clearly a sliver that's there for you. But you do talk about access, and that's crucial, right? It has to be easy to get. So when you talk about, quote-unquote, access to 55% of commercial government lives, I think I've asked you this on pretty much every call I've ever done. What does access really mean? It's one thing to not be blocked. It's another thing for it to be
spk08: affordable or easy to be prescribed and and fulfilled at the pharmacy so you know what are you seeing and and how does the aca you know how is that playing out in terms of preferential access yeah i mean when we use the word access we mean that it's easy for a doctor to write so when we quote 55 it means it's in a formulary position that he can write the drug you know so when you know in in theory under the affordable care act everybody can write the drug and we could if we could quote 100 because In theory, you know, patients are supposed to be able to have access across all the commercial plans, you know, with their doctors just writing a letter of medical necessity. So, but, you know, we try to, if you will, quote, where there's easy access, I guess, the way we think about it, just 55% is where doctors can write it and, you know, get the drug through. But like you said, under the Affordable Care Act, you know, these drugs should be more broadly acceptable, but it involves work for the doctors. You know, so, you know, we don't want to overstate it. So we want to keep chipping away at those other ones. And, you know, we've added more and, you know, and we expect going forward to hear that number getting bigger. So, but that's how we use the word access. It's a very good question.
spk02: Okay. I appreciate that. Thank you.
spk01: Next question coming from the line of Tim Ludo with William Blair. Your line is open.
spk05: Thanks for the question and congratulations on the progress and also for providing us all the KPI metrics. It's very helpful. And I guess going into one of the non-retail channel, I believe you mentioned your prepared comments. It was around $2,000 and a quarter. How meaningful do you expect that channel to be, kind of quarter of a quarter throughout the remainder of the year? And is that something that could fluctuate Q3 and Q4? Or what are your just expectations there?
spk08: Well, Tim, first of all, thanks. And You know, we appreciate it. We'll try to be as transparent. We like showing the metrics the way we look at the business. So thanks. We appreciate that comment. Yeah, so that channel is really an interesting one for us. So like Oren's question, if you heard his question, in some respects, they were picking up some business and straight lining it, if you will, you know, on one scenario. So that was kind of on one algorithm. And then the one we quoted, you know, Tim, was I don't want to say direct. They didn't buy the product from us. They bought it from a wholesaler. It was a state clinic. you know, that just bought it directly, 2,000 units, you know, directly from one of our wholesalers, which was an exciting day to get that big of an order. I've got to tell you, that's about what went through the retail channel that month. So we'd like to think that channel is going to become more important, Tim, but it's early days. I think that'll be conservative the way you think about it, so we get our legs under it. But it's exciting, though. It was a I think what makes us excited, Tim, is that the public sector accounts, and there's a ton of them. This is just scratching the surface. This happened to be a state clinic. And the interesting thing, and I have to say, we didn't have a rep in front of them. They just heard about the brand. They thought the brand was great. They put a big order in. And now we're trying to say, you want more? So in the meantime, there's a lot of Planned Parenthood business, Student Health Center, telemedicine. We haven't begun, Tim. So I think for us, we want to kind of think about the business and our retail as our bread and butter, and then we're just going to have to keep you updated on this business. It's lumpy, Tim. I don't know what else to say, but in a good way. Yeah. Because they don't order every day sometimes. So it's almost like the way you follow hospital businesses, Tim. Sometimes they buy big boluses at once, and so we're going to have to just monitor that. Yeah. The good news is we have customers, Tim, that we didn't even know about. So we're excited. And we'll take this problem every day, Tim. Every day of the week we'll take this problem.
spk05: Exactly.
spk08: We've got to learn to get more and pull it through. But we're pretty excited that there's a new channel emerging for us.
spk05: It's kind of the power of a large market. I understand that in some of the other sectors as well. And I guess drilling down a little bit more on the access, and maybe you talked about this with Warren's question, but we're approaching kind of a contracting season for commercial payers when we tend to see announcements. Is this something you're actively pursuing and Should we expect kind of a 2022, you know, just something to watch out for in the contracting season as they're approaching?
spk08: Yeah, Tim, great question. The answer is it's the bid and ask season, yes. We're in the hot and heavy of it. Yeah, and also that has to do with some of the Medicaid business we've been winning because, in effect, we're winning early contracts for next year or so. We're right in the heat of the cycle, yes. So I think you're going to start hearing us, you know, reaffirm some of the coverage we have or hopefully keep adding to it. So, you know, our strategy is to build that book of business we've got and hopefully a lot more good news for you next quarter and then supplement it with that whole other channel, if you will, the non-retail channel. So we're strapping, Tim. We're fine. But, yes, we're in the business. We're signing off on a lot of good right now, yes.
spk05: That sounds great. Thanks for the update.
spk08: My pleasure, Tim. Thank you.
spk01: Our next question coming from the line of Leo and Virgil with Oppenheimer. Your line is open.
spk04: Hey, good afternoon, guys. Thanks for taking my questions, and thank you for the very informative update. I'm glad to see the OPEX is under control as you continue to grow the product. I wanted to ask a few questions. First, in terms of sampling initiatives, I think, Alan, the last call you mentioned that those may be easing as we get through the second quarter. Perhaps those have continued more than we had expected based perhaps on greater physician demand or interest. I wanted to kind of ask what your kind of current sampling looks like and how that may, you know, wind down, you know, as we get through the rest of the year. Also want to ask about the types of patients who are coming on Twirla. If you could kind of give us a rough breakdown of, you know, patients who have been on the legacy patch versus those who are, you know, new to contraception or perhaps those who have been on an oral and are switching and any, you know, directional trends you may be seeing there as Twirla has been on the market. And then finally, Dr. You know, as more and more women out there are becoming aware of the product and are coming to see their doctors, and with COVID easing a bit, you know, more and more patients are going to see their doctors or asking about it. You have that, and you also have doctors who may be familiar with the old patch and may have some reservations and may not be used to, you know, the new patch. So I wanted to ask, you know, what opportunity does that create for Agile to kind of provide a way for docs to be more informed about Perla and its differentiation and, you know, perhaps to have less reservation about prescribing it. Thanks.
spk08: Great. If there's a run-on sentence, I have a run-on question. You've got four parts. Let me see if I can do this. Sorry. I didn't get it all. I'm going to go to number three, which I think is the users. You know, you said what I think was – you know, who we're seeing in the marketplace. It's really interesting. Number one, about 50% of all our prescriptions are new to contraception, meaning they're a new user, which is about what we thought, but trending on the higher side of what we thought. So the doctors are using our product. And that's what we ask is by our reps. We say, hey, why don't you give it a try on a new patient in your waiting room? Because we think it's a little bit less confrontational, you know, if you will. Now, I've also got the question, do we target Zulane or the other patch or Zulane users? The answer is absolutely yes, we do. You know, related to that, so we go to doctors, you know, that have already feel comfortable with patches, so we target their offices, but we don't say take them off the other patch, if you will. So it's related to the way we target doctors, and I'll get to your fourth question, and then I'll work backwards again. So 50% are new users. 25% have come off a pill, not a patch. So about 75% to almost 80% are either new to methods or new to patch. And then the remaining percentages are scattered around ring users, patch users. So that's really great. But to your other question about, you know, if I was saying what surprised me so far, it's slow to get a doctor to write a patch of any kind if they've never written one before. So a lot of, I think we talked before, a lot of the young doctors are a little bit reticent in using patches. So our low-hanging fruit is on patch users, and there's a lot of them. So, you know, the other ones we're not giving up on, you know, but we're really, in effect, it's going to take us more time. So samples, you know, it was just one of your other questions. I'll let them comment here, comments about OpEx. But samples continue to be critically important. You know, what we're finding in general, we're going, there's still a significant demand as COVID opens up offices. I mean, you know, for the first time, our reps are regularly getting into sample closets for the first time, and we just said, we want them to own those closets. We're saying, don't be shy. You know, so I don't think sampling demand is kind of, you know, in a kind of steady state yet. So we did our first loading of the channel, if you will, in a good way loading, not bad loading. You know, getting them out deployed, you know, but still our reps are a lot of times on Zoom calls, and it's hard to judge, you know, doctors. So what we're finding from the field, and, you know, I'm meeting with our regional managers this week, is that there's new demand for samples just in general. So I think we're still using a decent amount of them, and you want to mention that OpEx control seems very nice to you.
spk07: Yeah, I mean, we do. We've been pretty, you know, guarded. We really have tightened down on our OpEx. And going forward, as I said, we expect it to be within a million or so of what we had this quarter. And that's really the way we're managing it.
spk08: Yeah, and we appreciate it, you know, because, I mean, we try to make good bets, if you will. I mean, we bet on what we think works and, you know, everything else, you know, it's just got to be secondary at this point. I mean, we have a responsibility to our shareholders to keep our heads about them. But I think based on the performance we're seeing and the brand's growth, I feel like we're making good bets. And Dennis keeps me honest, as you know. So, you know, we're putting the bets in the right places.
spk04: Excellent. Terrific. Thank you very much, Al and Dennis.
spk08: Did I get them all? Did I get it all?
spk04: You got them all. Thank you so much.
spk08: All right. Thanks.
spk01: We have our next question coming from the line of Daniel Basby with RBC Capital Markets. Your line is open.
spk03: Hey, good afternoon, guys. I've got a couple questions. First, I think I heard you reaffirm your 5% to 8% peak market share target earlier on the call. Can you talk a little bit more about the factors that give you that confidence in light of some of the competitive developments we've seen this year with Amnio launching a generic Zulane product and now Vietris talking about introducing a low-dose version of Zulane?
spk08: Yeah, I mean, you know, I have to tell you, you were one of the first ones that kind of predicted it, and here's the bold insight. Number one, since the second patch generic came out, our share has grown. They've taken all the share from Zooling. So that's good for us, and that's what you had originally said in your notes. The second insight you had was really interesting. I don't know if you've looked at it. You know, right now in the middle of COVID, the CHC market is rather flat. The only growth area is patches. You know, it's really interesting. We're outpacing the market. So the patch pie continues to grow. And so my confidence has to do with patches becoming more mainstream again, which we thought. So you end up being right, Dan. You had this one when you said they weren't going to clip us, and they were more likely going to clip each other. And that's what we're seeing in the marketplace. So the good news is the second patch didn't ding us at all, and it didn't ding the category. So the category is growing. And we're hoping the category continues to grow as we kind of unlock out of COVID, even though this category has been generally flat. But it's good. And, you know, the other part of my bullishness that has to do with our accessing these, you heard these long conversations about these other channels. I think that we can continue to follow the patient and say, where else is she going besides CVS? You know, telemarketing, Planned Parenthood, student health centers, and these state and county organizations. There's a ton of business out there. So, that's why we're bullish. I feel like we're just, I love the growth we posted, you know, but we're not at any means done. So we're just, you know, just still a lot of the market we haven't been in front of. So, but that gives me the confidence to kind of reaffirm that. Patches look like people are getting back in vogue again with them. And, you know, it's our job to make them pick our patch. You know, and then I, You know, I can't comment to, you know, the other patch. I mean, I saw what you saw. You know, it appears it's only gone to the clinic. It looks like it's years out. And at this point, you know, take a look at the market share of Zoolane. Zoolane is dropping fast. I mean, the question is, how much share will they have left when they launch that? So, I mean, their competitors took a lot of gas, you know, a lot of share away from them. And like I said, we kept growing. Good questions, though. Thank you.
spk03: Got it. Thanks for the color. And just one follow-up, perhaps for Dennis. I could probably do the math on cash runway, but you mentioned the $25 million tranche you have potentially available. Can you share anything about the achievability of those targets? Do you expect to be able to access that cash, or is it still a little bit up in the air?
spk07: You know, we're thrilled we got to 31 million right now, and we were able to tap the ATM. On Perceptive, you know, there are targets there. We haven't disclosed them. They're challenging targets for us, but, you know, they've been a great partner to us for years now. And, you know, we'll continue the dialogue, and, you know, we'll let you know. You know, it's not... It's not a slam dunk. We'll get that money from them. But yet, you know, we kind of trust the partnership, and we'll continue with dialogue.
spk03: Okay. Got it. Thanks. Thanks, Dan.
spk01: Now our next question coming from the line of . Your line is open.
spk08: Hey, guys. Thanks for taking my question. Now that you've seen more demand sales, are you guys seeing the demand script, the patients see a $0 copay, or do you find them mostly using the copay cards or paying for the product? I have a follow-up question. Yeah, it's a tough question. I don't have them all at the top of my head, but a significant amount of our patients get it for $0 copay, you know, just because it's under the Affordable Care Act. And so, you know, so to answer your question, it's going to be all around the board. The Medicaid patient, when we're in a strong contracting position with them, you know, some patients could be $2 or $5, and it's really virtually zero. So in those books of business, the patient is really paying virtually nothing. So that's really good for the patients, and it's really good for us. You know, our co-pay business, I mean, our co-pay cards, you know, I don't believe are a runaway in any means. You know, we use them on a really situational basis. That's something Bennett keeps an eye on. That's a lot of we're releasing a lot of cash in this case to the patient. So, you know, we haven't over relied on our copay cards. I mean, this is a real healthy brand without them, you know, knock on wood, but it's there in case we need it. It's meant to be, we don't, I hope it sounds right, but we don't want the copay cards. We want the copay cards to be a bridge to, you know, a better, a better outcome for the patient, either navigating her zero copay, you know, or, you know, us getting on eventually on formulary. We just, You know, we just can't see us running a long-term business on the back co-pays. I think they're very needed as a situational basis, if you will. And that's the way we use them, very strategically. But we're pleased that our overall growth from that is pretty good right now. You know, we haven't over-relied on them, knock on wood. So, so far, so good. It's a situational bridge for patients or plans, but the bigger idea is get on formulary. You know, we just, we as a company believe in getting on formulary. You know, we just don't. We just can't run a business, you know, not, you know, kind of a good relationship with our payers. So we just are really always at the table with them trying to either get formulary access or get better access. Got it. And the patients that are getting Twirla, at this point, how many cycles of Twirla scripts are they getting for it? Is it still like 1.3 to 1.4x months? Or are you seeing patients get longer prescriptions? Yes. No, you know, it's pretty steady. You know, you'll see in those graphs we provided when you get a chance to look at some of the screenshots, you'll see TRX, and if you look at the ratio, it's still 1.3. Some weeks it's 1.32, but it's hovering. We expect some plans are, you know, in the mail order business, they're allowed to get more, if you will, cycles at a time. So if anything, you know, it should eke up a little bit, you know, but we're not seeing it, you know, it's pretty steady right now. So I'd leave it at that until we talk to you. Some of the negotiations we're in, they're going to be letting doctors write longer prescriptions, and that's going to be great for us, by the way. We'll take it. But for right now, it's really steady at around 1.3. And to me, you know, which is, you know, what that means is, you know, for those that are kind of new to us, you know, that means every TRX is worth 30% more to us. So rather than, you know, so the value of the patient on that first script is obviously a lot more. It really ends up being a big number. You can see on the curves. It doesn't take much to get these curves bending upwards pretty quickly because of that and new refills. It's a good business. We're just getting to the point. We're getting a base of refills. We've got some new business coming in, and we've got that 1.3 multiplier. It's starting to become a real healthy little business to run, so we're excited. Our job is to get new prescriptions. The more we get, we get a multiplier on them. Got it. And the final question is, some of the larger non-retail orders you saw in 2Q, is there, like, a potential to sign a recurring contract with those purchasers, or would they just have to kind of go through wholesalers? No, that is a fabulous question. The answer is we'd love to sign an agreement, because if not, you know, we're at the the whims of a purchasing manager that, you know, we'd like to be in a long-term better relationship so that it's not just a, you know, a here and there purchase. So to answer your question, we would love to do that. That goes with Planned Parenthood. That goes with student health centers. That goes with all these clinics. We just have a bias, you know, to get on the contract. you know, we just like that. For now, it's a little bit more lumpy, you know, but just from our own planning, it keeps us better organized if we can get them. And, you know, for right now, they can buy the product through the wholesalers, which is great. So we could see the movement. You know, there's a fair number of hospitals around the country to buy our product, you know, but that was the most significant one. They're starting to get doctors and, you know, they're treating patients in university settings. And so these kind of like Non-retail business is starting to get interesting enough. But we don't want to chase it. We want to develop a strategy for opening this channel in a big way. But for right now, we'll take the business. We'll take the sale. That was a nice book of business. As I told Tim when he asked that question, that was about as much as we sold in the retail channel that month. So one order was great. It was a good day. So, yes, we would like to get on the contract. We're going to develop a strategic relationship with them. Got it. Thanks for taking my questions. My pleasure. Thank you. Thanks for listening.
spk01: Thank you. There are no further questions at this time. I will turn the call back over to Altamari.
spk08: Well, thank you, operator, and thank you, everybody, for listening. I'd like to close today by saying that we believe we have the building blocks in place for continued growth and remain on track to achieve our near-term goal, which is establishing twirl in this multibillion-dollar hormonal contraceptive market. And I hope you can hear some of the excitement in our voices that, you know, we believe we're just, you know, on the way on that journey. Number one, we have an approved product that's growing. And all the major performance metrics in a valuable market. And we believe it's only scratching the surface. And, you know, we're unleashing, you know, in a very responsible way, DTC advertising. And that, you know, we're further developing some of these channels you all asked me about. You know, but in the meantime, our bread and butter is in the retail market. And You know, we need to continue to get doctors aware and comfortable writing our product, and particularly those that are already comfortable writing patches. While we're happy with the growth today, you know, we believe there's a lot more on the table. So hopefully as we talk in the future, you know, you'll hear more about, you know, how these programs are working and more about our growth. I'd like to thank everybody for joining us on the call. Be well as always, and we look forward to providing you updates in the future on the advancement of our business. in our next earnings call. And hopefully we'll see each other, hopefully face-to-face and not in the near future. So thank you, everybody. Be well and be safe.
spk01: This concludes today's conference call. Thank you for participating.
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