speaker
Operator

Thank you for your continued patience. Your meeting will begin shortly. If you need assistance at any time, please press star zero and a member of our team will be happy to help.

speaker
spk14

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speaker
Operator

Thank you for your continued patience. Your meeting will begin shortly.

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spk14

If you need assistance at any time, please press star zero, and a member of our team will be happy to help. ¶¶ . . . ¶¶ Good morning.

speaker
Angela
Conference Operator

My name is Angela, and I will be your conference operator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to Harmony Bioscience's fourth quarter and full year 2025 financial results conference call. All participant lines have been placed on mute to prevent any background noise. After the speaker's remarks, there will be a question and answer session. If you would like to ask a question at that time, please press star one on your telephone keypad. Please be advised that today's conference may be recorded. Lastly, if you should require operator assistance, please press star zero. I will now turn the call over to Matthew Beck from Aster Partners. Please go ahead.

speaker
Matthew Beck
Partner, Aster Partners

Thank you, operator. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us today as we review Harmony Bioscience's fourth quarter 2025 financial results and provide a business update. Before we start, I encourage everyone to go to the investor section of our website to find the materials that accompany our discussion today, including a reconciliation of our GAAP to non-GAAP financial measures. At this stage of our lifecycle, we believe the non-GAAP financial results better represent the underlying business performance. Our speakers on today's call are Dr. Jeffrey Dano, President and CEO, Adam Zeske, Chief Commercial Officer, Dr. Kumar Bajor, Chief Medical and Scientific Officer, and Sandeep Kapadia, Chief Financial and Administrative Officer. As a reminder, we will be making forward-looking statements today, which are based on our current expectations and beliefs. These statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties. Our actual results may differ materially, and we undertake no obligation to update these statements even if circumstances change. We encourage you to consult the risk factors referenced in our SEC filings for additional details. I would now like to turn the call over to our CEO, Dr. Jeffrey Dano. Jeff?

speaker
Dr. Jeffrey Dano
President and CEO

Thank you, Matt. Good morning, everyone, and thanks for joining our call today. I want to start off by recognizing the entire Harmony team for another outstanding quarter and a remarkable year in 2025. Our fourth quarter results reflect strong, sustained execution and have positioned us to achieve blockbuster status for WCAG this year. In Q4, we delivered $243.8 million in net product revenue, up from 201.3 million in the same period last year, driven by continued strong demand for WACICS based on its broad clinical utility and ongoing executional excellence by our commercial team. 2024-25 marked the third consecutive quarter with approximately 400-plus average patient ads, the first time in franchise history. This quarter's net patient ads brings us to approximately 8,500 average patients on WACIX. With 80,000 diagnosed patients with narcolepsy, there continues to be a large market opportunity to support strong growth. For full year 2025, WACIX generated $868.5 million in net product revenue, representing strong year-over-year growth, and extending to six consecutive years of revenue growth and profitability. Looking ahead to 2026, we are guiding WCAG's net revenue to blockbuster status of $1 to $1.04 billion for the first time in franchise history, underscoring the durability of the WCAG's brand and the strength of our commercial engines. On the IP front, we have made good progress toward the goal of securing the WACUS franchise. We recently settled with three generic filers, resulting in us having settled with six of the seven ANDA filers. Based on these settlements, generic entry would occur no sooner than March of 2030 if we are granted pediatric exclusivity, which we are on track to obtain. As for last week's trial, we remain confident in the strength of our IP and will continue to vigorously defend it as the legal process and trial continues. In addition to the strong growth of WACIX, we are advancing the next-generation Pitocin franchise. Pitocin-GR will extend the WACIX franchise and our leadership in narcolepsy as a line extension of WACIX with its broad clinical utility. We are on track for NDA submission in Q2 this year with a target PDUFA date in Q1, 2027. Pitocin HD is designed to expand the Pitocin franchise into unique indications in orphan rare diseases addressing unmet medical needs. And we now have an opportunity to explore a new Pitocin formulation to pursue broader indications in CNS patient populations in which fatigue is a prominent symptom. This strategy is a mechanism-based approach as fatigue is mediated through histamine circuits in the brain and Pitocin works by up-regulating histamine transmission in the brain along with other neurotransmitters. This work is supported by newly licensed IP with patent protection until 2042. and we are excited for the opportunity to explore broader CNS indications with Pitocin. Kumar will provide more color on this opportunity later in the call. Our robust late-stage pipeline continues to advance with five ongoing Phase III registrational trials for five distinct CNS indications, and we are making good progress. These trials set us up for multiple catalysts over the next few years and, if successful, meaningful long-term value creation. Kumar will provide more details on the progress of our pipeline programs and the timing of these important catalysts during his R&D updates. In summary, Harmony enters 2026 with powerful momentum, a clear path to blockbuster status for WCAG in narcolepsy alone, record revenues, and a large market opportunity that remains in narcolepsy for continued growth of WAKX, a lifecycle management strategy that we are advancing to extend the success of WAKX, expand next-generation pitocin into unique indications in orphan rare CNS disorders, along with our new opportunity to explore broader CNS indications with a new formulation of pitocin driven by a mechanism-based approach. and a robust late-stage pipeline with five ongoing phase three registrational trials towards five distinct CNS indications. All of this reinforces our belief that we have built something rare in this industry, a profitable, self-funding biotech company with a strong balance sheet, well positioned to build out our pipeline and expand our commercial portfolio to drive long-term value creation. With that, I'll turn the call over to Adam Zeske, our Chief Commercial Officer, for an update on our outstanding commercial performance. Adam?

speaker
Adam Zeske
Chief Commercial Officer

Thank you, Jeff. 2025 marked a year of unprecedented and record-setting performance for WACICS, and that performance continued in the fourth quarter. In Q4 of 2025, WACICS continued its remarkable trajectory with a third consecutive quarter of approximately 400 or more average patient ads, the first time this has been achieved in the history of the franchise. This level of sustained momentum speaks directly to the strength of the brand and the consistency of our execution. What's driving this performance is clear. Wakex maintains a unique, highly differentiated position as the only non-scheduled treatment option, which continues to fuel broad clinical adoption. Brand awareness, perceived efficacy, tolerability, and stable payer coverage remain exceptionally strong. And we've sharpened our commercial fundamentals from field deployment and call planning to refined messaging, targeted promotion, new payer wins, and better patient support processes that shorten time to dispense and boost conversions. The compelling value proposition of WACIX combined with continued strategic adjustments and strong operational execution are delivering results, giving us confidence heading into 2026. In addition, right now, we are expanding our field-based teams by almost 20% across our field sales, field reimbursement, and remote sales teams, and we've already made progress in hiring for these roles. This investment will increase our presence in the market and demonstrates confidence in our continued growth. We will launch a new online portal to enable easier and faster access for patients, and we're continuing to deploy process improvements to further improve time to dispense and success rate. And we'll continue to look for opportunities for additional improvements and efficiencies moving forward. We're also extremely excited about the recent FDA approval of WAKIX for the treatment of cataplexy in pediatric patients six years of age and older with narcolepsy. This approval further demonstrates the clinical value of WAKIX for pediatric patients who experience cataplexy and gives their healthcare providers the option of prescribing WAKIX to address excessive daytime sleepiness, cataplexy, or both in people six years of age and older living with narcolepsy. Our commercial teams were well prepared ahead of this approval. with robust promotional strategy, and began executing on those plans from the day of approval. With all of this momentum, we've announced full-year revenue guidance for WACICS to achieve blockbuster status of between $1 billion and $1.4 billion in revenue in narcolepsy alone. Looking ahead, Patolis and GR and Patolis and HD give us the opportunity to extend and expand the franchise with differentiated formulations that address important unmet needs while fully leveraging the commercial engine we've built. Early feedback from market research with healthcare providers and payers has been highly encouraging, and we're preparing the organization to drive the next phase of growth as these assets come to market. In short, our commercial performance has never been stronger. The fundamentals are sound, execution is disciplined, and we have a clear path to sustained growth. Now, I'd like to turn the call over to our Chief Medical and Scientific Officer, Kumar Badur, to discuss the advancements in our clinical development programs. Kumar?

speaker
Dr. Kumar Bajor
Chief Medical and Scientific Officer

Thank you, Adam. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us today. Q4 2025 kept a year of significant scientific and clinical progress for Harmony, and we are entering 2026 with one of the most robust late-stage CNS pipelines in the industry. We now have five ongoing phase three registration of clinical trials across five distinct CNS indications, underscoring the breadth and depth of our development programs. I'll start with updates for our sleep-wake franchise. I'm pleased to highlight a new indication for WAKIX that the FDA approved on February 13th. The FDA approved WAKIX for cataplexy in patients six years of age and older. This is another important milestone for VACIX, and it is now approved for both excessive daytime sleepiness and cataplexy in adults and children six years of age and older. This approval also advances our efforts towards achieving pediatric exclusivity for VACIX, which is an additional six months of regulatory exclusivity at the back end of the longest pattern for VACIX. The data from the ongoing phase three study in Prader-Willi syndrome The TEMPO study is the other requirement for pediatric exclusivity, and we are on track for the top-line data from the TEMPO study in the second half of this year. Across our next 10 Pitocin programs, Pitocin-GR continues to advance as a fast-to-market strategy after demonstrating bioequivalence to Vagix in a pivotal bioequivalence study and has the ability to initiate treatment at the therapeutic dose range at 17.8 mg, eliminating the need for titration, which is an important differentiation. We remain on track for an NDS submission in Q2 2026 and target PDUFA in Q1 2027. Pitolacent HD, our enhanced formulation with an optimized PK profile and a higher dose, and BUDUFOY in 2028. The Phase III registrational clinical trials in narcolepsy and IH, that is the ONSTRIDE-1 and ONSTRIDE-2 studies, are ongoing. ONSTRIDE-1 is a prospective placebo-controlled parallel or double-blind randomized clinical trial comparing pitulacent HD and placebo. This is an eight-week study evaluating excessive daytime sleepiness via subjective and objective endpoints, that is, ESS and MWT, and we are also evaluating cataplexy and fatigue in this study. OnStrike2 is also a prospective placebo-controlled parallel arm double-blind randomized clinical trial comparing pitulasant HD and placebo. This is an eight-week study evaluating symptoms of idiopathic hypersomnia via IHSS and sleep inertia via sleep inertia scale. The sample size for each of these studies is approximately 200 patients, and both programs are pursuing differentiated levels, fatigue in narcolepsy and sleep inertia in idiopathic hypersomnia. expanding the Pitolocent franchise potentially into the 2040s. We are also very excited to announce the opportunity to explore broader CLS indications with a new formulation of Pitolocent with an issued patent until 2042. As we have discussed in the past, the histaminergic mechanism of fraction of Pitolocent is uniquely positioned to address all three different dimensions of fatigue, physical, emotional, and cognition, and we have already generated clinical data to support the utility of Pitocin to treat fatigue. We plan to evaluate this new formulation for fatigue in broader indication with fatigue in multiple sclerosis of the lead indication and explore other opportunities such as post-stroke fatigue and fatigue in Parkinson's disease. Our current efforts are focused on formulation optimization and new modes of delivery and towards the Phase I PK study. Beyond betolophant, our orexin-2 receptor agonist, BP1.5205, is enrolling in our Phase I clinical study. We are on track for Phase I PK data in mid-2026. As we have previously shared, BP1.5205 has demonstrated compelling preclinical potency, selectivity, safety, and efficacy, positioning it as a potential breast-in-class RXN2 receptor agonist. Moving on to our epilepsy franchise, EPX100 continues to advance in two global Phase III registrational programs. Enrollment is ongoing in both the Druet syndrome programs, that is, the Arcus study and the Lighthouse study, respectively. The top-line data is expected in first half of 2027 and BUDUFA in 2028. We recently presented the data from the open-label extension part of the Phase III study in Drouet syndrome at the AES meeting in December 2025, which supported a differentiated product profile for EPX100. The effectiveness data in patients who had at least six months of exposure to EPX100 showed clinically meaningful reduction in seizures, approximately 50% median reduction in seizures as measured by CMS28. In addition, we saw at least 50% reduction in seizures in half of the patients. EPX100 was found to be generally well-tolerated with no additional laboratory or special monitoring requirements with some participants exposed to EPX100 for more than two years and approaching three years. Finally, on behalf of Harmony, I would like to thank all the patients and their families who are participating in our clinical trials, as well as the clinical investigators and site personnel for their efforts and commitment in helping us to advance our development programs. I'll now turn the call over to our CFO, Sandeep Kapadia, for an update on our financial performance. Sandeep?

speaker
Sandeep Kapadia
Chief Financial and Administrative Officer

Thank you, Kumar, and good morning, everyone. This morning, we issued our fourth quarter earnings release and filed our 10-K, where you'll find the details of our fourth quarter and full year 2025 financial and operating results. Our financial performance is also shown on slides 15 through 17. We finished the year with great momentum across the business, delivering strong growth across several of our key metrics, positioning us well as we head into 2026. We delivered another year of double-digit top-line growth as we reported net revenues above the top end of our previous guidance range. We continue to be a profitable, cash-generating company, funding the growth and advancement of our pipeline fully with the strength of our balance sheets. Our strong financial performance combined with a solid balance sheet, including approximately $882.5 million in cash, cash equivalents, and investments positions as well, as we continue to invest in the advancement of our robust late-stage pipeline and look for additional value-enhancing opportunities to further build out our pipeline and add to our commercial portfolio. We reported net revenues of $243.8 million for the fourth quarter of 2025, compared to $201.3 million in the prior quarter, representing a growth of 21% and also our highest quarterly revenues to date. Performance in the quarter reflects the sustained strong underlying demand for WCAG. We also reported total operating expenses for the fourth quarter of $136.7 million, compared to $91.1 million for the same quarter in 2024. The growth in expenses was related to investments in our R&D to advance our late-stage pipeline, investments in the commercialization of WCAGs and narcolepsy, as well as and the litigation and settlement expenses during the fourth quarter of 2025. Non-GAAP-adjusted net income for the fourth quarter of 2025 was $33.4 million, or $0.57 per diluted share, compared to $64.2 million, or $1.10 per diluted share in the prior quarter. We believe non-GAAP-adjusted net income better reflects the underlying business performance. Please see our press release for a reconciliation of GAAP to non-GAAP results. We ended the fourth quarter with $882.5 million in cash, cash equivalents, and investments. The balance reflects robust cash generation of $348.2 million from operations in 2025, providing us with the financial flexibility to execute on our growth strategy. Looking ahead to our expectations for 2026, as previously disclosed, We are reiterating our guidance for WCAG's net revenue of $1 to $1.04 billion. We believe this guidance reflects our strong expectations for 2026 and demonstrates that we are on track to achieving blockbuster potential for WCAG in narcolepsy alone. As you think about phasing of revenues for the first quarter of 2026, we expect to see the typical seasonal dynamics that the industry as a whole experiences each year in Q1, This includes higher gross-to-net deductions due to insurance plans reset and higher copay obligations, along with potential for drawdown in trade inventories. With respect to expenses, we expect significant increases in investments in R&D as we advance our pipeline with five ongoing Registrational Phase III programs, along with plans for a sixth Phase III study anticipated to start later this year. Finally, business development is a high priority, and our intention is to deploy capital to expand our pipeline and commercial portfolio. In summary, I'm pleased with our strong financial performance in 2025. We've once again delivered a year with strong top-line growth, maintained healthy operating margins, while continuing to generate significant cash. This positions us well as we enter 2026 with the potential for significant value generation. And with that, I'd like to turn the call back over to Jeff for his closing remarks. Jeff?

speaker
Dr. Jeffrey Dano
President and CEO

Thank you, Sandeep. In closing, I'm incredibly proud of what the Harmony team accomplished in 2025. But that is behind us, and we are now focused on 2026 and excited for what is ahead. Growth of the WAKIX franchise, guiding WAKIX to blockbuster status in 2026, Extending the WACIX franchise with the Pitocin GR's target PDUFA date in Q1, 2027. Expanding the Pitocin franchise with the advancement of the phase three trials with Pitocin HD in unique orphan rare CNS indications. A new opportunity to explore broader CNS indications with newly licensed IP and a new formulation of Pitocin. advancing a robust late-stage pipeline with five ongoing Phase III registrational trials toward five distinct CNS indications. It is because of these achievements that we continue to operate from a position of strength and drive significant momentum. This momentum reinforces our confidence that we have built something rare in this industry. a profitable, self-funding biotech company with a strong balance sheet, blockbuster commercial product, a pipeline position to deliver significant long-term value, and the capacity, experience, and commitment to generate even greater value through the pursuit of smart business development opportunities. Thank you, and I will now turn the call back over to the operator for Q&A. Operator?

speaker
Angela
Conference Operator

Thank you. At this time, if you would like to ask a question, please press star 1 on your telephone keypad. If you wish to remove yourself from the queue, you may do so by pressing star 2. We remind you to please pick up your handset and please limit yourself to one question and one follow-up question. We'll take our first question from Pete Stavropoulos with Cantor Fitzgerald. Your line is now open. Please go ahead.

speaker
Pete Stavropoulos
Analyst, Cantor Fitzgerald

Hi. Thank you for taking the question. Actually, I'm going to go to one of your earlier stage assets, EPX100 for Dravet, and the clinical data disclosed at AES in December. He just commented on the baseline seizure rates and the baseline anti-seizure med use. You know, how do they sort of compare to the real-world patients, and how do you compare to patients in other Dravet clinical trials? And with the interim OLE efficacy and safety data in hand for those that have at least six months of exposure, what's your view on the emerging benefit-risk profile? How competitive do you believe the emerging profile is? And where do you see it fitting into the current landscape?

speaker
Dr. Jeffrey Dano
President and CEO

Good morning, Pete. Thanks for your question, and I'll turn it over to Kumar to respond.

speaker
Dr. Kumar Bajor
Chief Medical and Scientific Officer

Hey, good morning, Pete. Thank you for the question. These patients who participated in our Druet syndrome study had treatment-resistant seizures. They were, on an average, approximately about four anti-seizure medicines. And their baseline seizures, I don't remember the exact number, what the baseline seizure was, but I can provide that information. But that was comparable to what we have seen in other studies as well. In terms of the value proposition, I mentioned on the call The efficacy that we saw in this study, the effectiveness data showed that we had at least about approximately 50% median reduction in seizures, and we also saw 50% reduction in seizures in about 50% of these patients. What's important is to see this alongside the safety and tolerability profile. We did not see significant nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, diarrhea that is commonly seen with other medicines, including suppression of appetite. In fact, the only GI, AE of note was diarrhea, which was seen in about 2% of the patients. Liver function tests also remained normal, which is an issue with some of the approved drugs. And EPX100 doesn't require any special monitoring. And also the ease of use is also very important here. A liquid formulation TID dosing regimen is much more better suited in this patient population for patients and caregivers compared to some of the other drugs that are in development which have a TID dosing regimen. Thank you, Bill. Thanks, Kumar.

speaker
Pete Stavropoulos
Analyst, Cantor Fitzgerald

And one follow-up, if okay. A question on the orexin-2 regimen.

speaker
Dr. Kumar Bajor
Chief Medical and Scientific Officer

Go ahead, Pete.

speaker
Pete Stavropoulos
Analyst, Cantor Fitzgerald

Can you hear me?

speaker
Dr. Kumar Bajor
Chief Medical and Scientific Officer

Yes.

speaker
Pete Stavropoulos
Analyst, Cantor Fitzgerald

Yeah. So for the orexin-2 receptor agonist, you know, you're going to have data mid-yearish. What's the PK, PD, and safety bar that you look for in the Phase I to move this program into later stage studies? And where do you sort of see your orexin-2 receptor agonist fitting into the emerging landscape?

speaker
Dr. Kumar Bajor
Chief Medical and Scientific Officer

Yeah. We are dosing the... Sorry, we are dosing subjects right now in our phase one PK study. By mid-2026, we will see clinical PK data, safety, and tolerability data. We don't anticipate to see anything different than what is already seen with other oral receptor agonists in this class. And we are making progress on advancing this to the next stage of development, which is sleep-deprived healthy volunteer study we plan to commence in the second half of this year. how it fits with the competitive landscape. Look, Takeda is ahead. They have submitted an NDA and the others are in phase one and phase two studies. And our goal is to really accelerate the clinical development by leveraging some of the learning that we have from other development programs that are ahead of us without compromising the quality of data.

speaker
Pete Stavropoulos
Analyst, Cantor Fitzgerald

All right, thank you, and thank you for taking my questions, and congrats on the quarter.

speaker
Jeff

Thank you, Pete. Thanks, Pete.

speaker
Angela
Conference Operator

Thank you. And we'll move next to David Amselem with Piper Sandler. Your line is now open.

speaker
David Amselem
Analyst, Piper Sandler

Thanks. Two for me. One on the erection, just wanted to clarify, are we going to get multiple ascending dose data in the second half in sleep-deprived healthies, and how are you thinking about given that you have a number of companies that are looking at narcolepsy and IH. Are you thinking beyond narcolepsy and IH, or is that going to be your core focus for the erection program? That's number one. And then number two is sort of a hypothetical here, but to the extent that with the patent case, if you were to not prevail, and there was an earlier than expected loss of excessivity, how do you think about cash conservation? and ultimately trying to bridge from the LOE to your next set of development stage assets and commercialization of them. Thanks.

speaker
Dr. Jeffrey Dano
President and CEO

Good morning, David. Thanks for your questions. With regards to the erection two agonists, just a comment. In terms of target indications, I think we are contemplating broadly, in addition to the primary targets, you know, in terms of our overall REXIM II program, you know, other opportunities beyond, you know, primary disorders of hypersomnolence. So I think, you know, that is part of an overall development strategy. With regards to the emerging data, first I just want to clarify in terms of the PK profile, you know, in Healthy Volunteers single-dose study. You know, we are looking to confirm the expected profile of, you know, once daily dosing with regards to the initial data that we'll read out. And Kumar, multiple ascending dose on sleep-deprived Healthy Volunteers?

speaker
Dr. Kumar Bajor
Chief Medical and Scientific Officer

Yeah, the multiple ascending dose study, David, will follow the single ascending dose study. And in parallel, we plan to conduct a sleep-deprived Healthy Volunteers study. In terms of the indications that Jeff was mentioning, we are keeping an open eye and looking at everything, not just central disorders of hypersomnolence, but other potential neuropsychiatric disorders, including several aspects of cognition, mood, and other things. We will pursue single ascending, multiple ascending dose study because that's something that we need to do regardless. And then we will evaluate the competitive landscape and decide which way to go.

speaker
Dr. Jeffrey Dano
President and CEO

And David, with regards to your second question, you know, with regards to the ongoing litigation, you know, I think as you're aware, I think it's, you know, premature. I'm not going to speculate on the future outcome of the trial. But, you know, but I point you to the recent progress that we made, you know, in settling with three of the generic filers. So that, you know, currently It brings the total number of settlements to six of the seven and the filers. We feel good about how that positions us going forward. Based on these settlements, generic entry stands at March of 2030 if we're granted pediatric exclusivity, which we're on track to obtain. With regards to our cash position and how we stand, Sandeep?

speaker
Sandeep Kapadia
Chief Financial and Administrative Officer

Yeah, look, I think we're in a very strong cash position. You saw we generated close to $348 million cash last year. We have $880 million of cash on the balance sheet. So I think we're really well positioned to continue to drive innovation, build our pipeline, and be able to fund many of the programs that we spoke about today generally. And we continue to have a solid position as a company.

speaker
Angela
Conference Operator

And thank you. We'll move next to Jay Olson with Oppenheimer. Your line is now open.

speaker
Jay Olson
Analyst, Oppenheimer

Oh, hey, congrats on the progress, and thank you for taking the questions. Can you talk about any gating factors to filing the Pitocin GR NDA next quarter? And then separately, can you just talk about the pace of enrollment in your Phase III narcolepsy and IH studies for Pitocin HD, considering you've got some competitors also enrolling their studies? Thank you.

speaker
Dr. Jeffrey Dano
President and CEO

Good morning, Jay. Thanks for your question. We're excited about Pitocin GR. You know, it's sort of right around the corner in terms of NDA submission. Kumar, any gating items to that, or how are things looking?

speaker
Dr. Kumar Bajor
Chief Medical and Scientific Officer

Matthew, things are looking good. Good morning, Jay. We are on track to submit the PDOLIS and GR NDA in second quarter of this year. As always, the final things that are needed for NDA submission, that's what we are working on. And we are on target for Q2 in Q1 of 2027. In terms of your question regarding the enrollment for pitulacent, HD, narcolepsy, and idiopathic hypersomnia studies, you're absolutely right, Jay. There is competition for patients. We are very much aware of it. But we also have been in this field for a long time. We know the sites. We know the investigators. We have conducted studies in this patient population. So we are confident with our current timeline, which is top line in 2027 and BUDOFA in 2028.

speaker
Dr. Jeffrey Dano
President and CEO

Thanks, Kumar. And with regards to, yeah, sure, with regards to Patolis and GR, I just want Adam to, you know, comment on how he sees the opportunity and how the commercial team is preparing for that.

speaker
Adam Zeske
Chief Commercial Officer

Great. Thanks, Jeff. Preparation is definitely underway. Looking for a PDUFA in 1Q27 that will have us launching several years before LOE with a With an opportunity to extend the WCAG franchise, this is a fast-to-market line extension strategy that provides a GR coating to pitolisin and allows patients to start right at a therapeutic dose. So another layer of additional protection for a product that's already perceived as highly well-tolerated. and the addition of starting at a therapeutic dose, which has hopefully the benefit of securing faster patient outcomes. The strategy here is really focused on new patients that would have been prescribed WAKIX, as well as previous patients that we have the ability to recontact because we secure consent right up front anytime there's a patient referred for WAKIX therapy. Both of those are tremendous opportunities, and we look forward to executing on that launch beginning in 1Q27 next year.

speaker
Jeff

Thank you, Adam.

speaker
Angela
Conference Operator

Thank you. We'll take our next question from Greg Suvannaveha with Mizzouho. Your line is now open.

speaker
Ryan
Analyst, Mizuho Securities

Hi, everyone. This is Ryan. I'm here with Greg today. A couple of quick questions for me. I'm wondering if you could comment on the increase in SG&A that we saw in the fourth quarter, the dynamics behind that, and then any updates that you might have on EPX 200 and when we might hear more about that program. Thank you.

speaker
Sandeep Kapadia
Chief Financial and Administrative Officer

Just regarding the expenses in the fourth quarter, as I mentioned on the call, we did see an increase in expenses, largely driven by the R&D investments as we start up our Phase 3s for both IH and narcolepsy in the HD program. you know, continued costs in terms of investments for WACICs in narcolepsy commercialization there. And then I also mentioned that we did have to handle litigation and settlement expenses in the fourth quarter so that the team could be prepared for the trial, which happened a few days ago as well. So, again, those are the key drivers for our expenses. And as I mentioned going forward, I think the key thing to note in terms of expenses is, as we'll have five registrational studies ongoing this year and potentially six-month plans for later this year, we will see some increases also in the R&D expenses as we go into 2026.

speaker
Dr. Kumar Bajor
Chief Medical and Scientific Officer

Thanks, Sandeep. Two more? Hey, Ryan. Good morning. Regarding liquid locacerin, which is EPX-200, we are doing some pre-IND-related work right now. Ryan, as you know, Locasterin is more selective for 5-HT2C, and this drug probably has one of the largest safety and tolerability database out there, including a long-term cardiovascular outcome study, and also there is a lot of efficacy data in several DEs with this compound. Our goal is to leverage all of the data that is already available and pursue an accelerated development program and hopefully bring a new medication to patients with development and epileptic encephalopathies. Thanks, Kumar.

speaker
Angela
Conference Operator

Thank you. And we'll go next to Danielle Brill with Truist Securities. Your line is now open.

speaker
Alex
Analyst, Truist Securities

Hey, guys. This is Alex. I'm for Danielle. Thanks for the question. Two little detailed questions. One follow-up on Jay's question on OnStride 1 and 2. Have those begun enrolling patients? Just we haven't seen any indication in Quintrials.gov. And then on the OPEX expenditure, you mentioned the impact of some of the settlements and litigation. Was that primarily in the general administrative line item? Just kind of curious how that run rate we should expect moving forward. Thanks so much.

speaker
Dr. Kumar Bajor
Chief Medical and Scientific Officer

Good morning, Alex. On site one and two studies, as we mentioned in the past, we started initiating sites towards the end of last year, and it will be posted on clinicaltrial.gov typically within 21 to 30 days after the first subject is enrolled. We are at different stages of site initiation, site activation, sites are getting prepared to enroll the patients.

speaker
Sandeep Kapadia
Chief Financial and Administrative Officer

And regarding the expenses, yeah, most of them, they were all under GNA in terms of the end of litigation and settlement expenses. Some of it tend to be one-time expenses, and some will continue as we continue with the litigation process.

speaker
Alex
Analyst, Truist Securities

Great. Thanks so much. Thanks, Alex.

speaker
Angela
Conference Operator

And thank you. We'll move next to Corinne Johnson with Goldman Sachs. Your line is now open.

speaker
Corinne Johnson
Analyst, Goldman Sachs

Thanks. Good morning. Maybe I know you can't speak too much about the details of ongoing litigation, but you could help us understand kind of the timeline for decisions that are expected next, what process you kind of could anticipate for appeal for a situation like this, and also kind of remind us the regulatory exclusivity timelines that you have. And then I know you've talked about the litigation or the settlements you have with six of seven of these other generic manufacturers, but can you clarify what what the impact this litigation might have on potentially, like, acceleration clauses in those settlements. I think those are pretty standard, but not sure if they're included here. Thanks.

speaker
Dr. Jeffrey Dano
President and CEO

Yeah, Corinne, thanks for your question. So with regards to, you know, the timing of the judge issuing a rule, you know, it's really hard to know and can't really speculate. You know, this is an ongoing legal process, and, you know, it's hard to know when that will complete and come to final decision. As a reminder, in the meantime, there is a stay that's in place that extends to February of 2027. And then based on the outcome of the trial, obviously an appeals process is available to both sides. I think we know that the litigation process as well as the appeals process you know, takes time. And, you know, with that, while this was happening, again, I think pointing back to the progress we've made, you know, on the settlements in terms of six of the seven generic filers being settled, we feel that, you know, positioned us well going forward, you know, with regards to the overall process. In the meantime, You know, there are other things going on with regards to, as we just spoke to, you know, Patolis and GR in extending, you know, the franchise. And, you know, that's, we remain, you know, with regards to last week's trial, you know, we remain confident in the strength of the IP, and we will continue to vigorously defend it, you know, as the legal process plays out, you know, after the trial. Two more. In terms of regulatory exclusivities, so in terms of our regulatory exclusivities of, you know, where we are with regards to, I mean, ODE with regards to EDS, you know, takes us to March of 26 and for cataplexy to October of 27.

speaker
Corinne Johnson
Analyst, Goldman Sachs

Thank you.

speaker
Bob Patel
Analyst, Bank of America

Thank you.

speaker
Angela
Conference Operator

And we'll take our next question from Patrick Trucchio with H.C. Wainwright. Please go ahead.

speaker
Patrick Trucchio
Analyst, H.C. Wainwright

Hi. Good morning. Just a couple of clarification questions and then a follow-up. First, I think you reiterated 2026 WCAG guidance of $1 billion to $1.04 billion. What level of average station growth is embedded in that range, and how much incremental contribution do you expect from the newly approved pediatric cataplexy indication in 2026?

speaker
Dr. Jeffrey Dano
President and CEO

Good morning, Patrick. Thanks for your question. Adam, what response to the patient growth reporting that?

speaker
Adam Zeske
Chief Commercial Officer

Yeah, thanks for the question. So for 2026 guidance, exceeding basically a billion or blockbuster status, the underlying patient growth is consistent with what we've seen this year. So we expect that momentum to continue. We're really excited to see the third consecutive quarter of more than 400 patient adds We've never seen that before in the brand. We believe that's a strong foundation of momentum carrying us into 26, and we expect that to continue. You're going to see the regular and normal seasonality that we've seen over the last several years. Q1 tends to be a little bit slower as the start of the calendar year with payer resets. and what have you, so we expect that seasonality to continue. But the underlying sort of average performance, we'd expect to continue the momentum we saw in 2025. Hopefully that covers the question.

speaker
Patrick Trucchio
Analyst, H.C. Wainwright

Yes, that's helpful. And then just as it regards the broader CMS strategy of MS fatigue, I'm wondering, first, can you elaborate on what existing clinical data supports the Tolleson's efficacy in fatigue? And what is the development timeline to the Phase I PC study?

speaker
Dr. Kumar Bajor
Chief Medical and Scientific Officer

Good morning, Patrick. Regarding this new formulation, this is something we are very excited about. It's a new formulation with an issued patent until 2042. We have mentioned in the past about our interest to pursue fatigue based on the histaminergic mechanism of action. We have also said that fatigue is not an unidimensional construct. It's a multidimensional construct with physical, somatic, and cognition symptoms. and how Pitocin with its unique mechanism of action working at tuberomammary nucleus and the downstream effects on serotonin and norepinephrine is uniquely positioned to treat fatigue. To your question about clinical data, Patrick, we actually showed the efficacy data in fatigue with Pitocin in our myotonic dystrophy study, where we saw clinically meaningful improvement in symptoms of fatigue, and we also saw dose response. Similarly, we also saw clinical efficacy data in fatigue in patients with residual excessive data and sleepiness with the OSA. So armed with all of these data points, we plan to pursue broader CNS indications where fatigue is a prominent symptom. And we have identified fatigue in MS as a lead indication because it's very well characterized very well known, and about 80% of patients with MS have fatigue, with more than 50% having clinically significant fatigue. In terms of where we are with the development program, right now the focus is on formulation optimization and looking at potentially other modes of delivery and prepare for a clinical PK study. That's where we are. Thank you.

speaker
Adam Zeske
Chief Commercial Officer

Great. Thanks so much. And if I could just jump in, I neglected to answer the second part of your question around the pediatric cataplexy opportunities. So just a quick couple of words on that. We're really excited about the approval of pediatric cataplexy. We now have approval for EDS and cataplexy in both adult and pediatric populations, basically anyone over six years of age. The pediatric patient population represents about 5% of the total narcolepsy population, just to give you an idea around scale of the opportunity. But really we see this as, look, this is an important addition to the label. It provides greater flexibility for healthcare providers in their ability to treat these patients. It's important new information that we will educate those healthcare providers on. And it, I think, reinforces WAKIX as an appropriate treatment for PEDS, as well as having just broad clinical utility across almost all patients with narcolepsy. So our teams were really well prepared ahead of the approval. As I mentioned, we had a robust promotional and execution strategy ready to go, and we began executing on those plans really from the day of approval. Thank you for the question.

speaker
Patrick Trucchio
Analyst, H.C. Wainwright

Terrific. Thank you so much.

speaker
Angela
Conference Operator

Thank you. We'll go next to Jason Gerberry with Bank of America. Please go ahead.

speaker
Bob Patel
Analyst, Bank of America

Hey guys, this is Bob and Patel on for Jason Grayberry. Um, just a couple of questions for us. The first is, and he has mentioned expanding the field sales and reimbursement teams in 2026. So maybe if you can just help us understand how much of this investment is dedicated to the core narcolepsy market versus preparing for new launches like the Tolosan GR in the future. And then the second question is with regards to BD. Maybe if you can speak to the BD as a capital allocation priority versus share repurchases or other things and how you're planning to diversify beyond the total standard franchise ahead of an important IP outcome, providing clarity on the sole commercial asset. Thank you.

speaker
Dr. Jeffrey Dano
President and CEO

Yeah, I didn't catch the first part of the question, if you could repeat that. I did. Yeah.

speaker
Bob Patel
Analyst, Bank of America

Oh, yeah, go ahead. Okay, Adam, go ahead.

speaker
Adam Zeske
Chief Commercial Officer

Yeah, the first part of the question was around the expansion. You know, what does that look like and how much of that is related to core? Basically growing Wacogs versus preparing for GR. I mean, the short answer on that last piece is 100% of the investment expansion is around continuing to grow Wacogs today. You know, our plans for how we will launch GR will take form as we progress through the calendar year this year and approach that PDUFA date in 1Q27. I'll remind that we were really pleased with the performance we saw in 25, really record-setting performance. And that was based on continuing to tweak some of the fundamentals around our sales execution, marketing promotional mix and messaging, adding some payer wins and supporting patients. As we enter 26, we triggered an expansion of our field-based teams. That's what you were asking about. Overall, it's about a 20% increase in total field-based personnel. So we see that as a really significant and meaningful increase in our share of voice. Also gives us the opportunity to rebalance territories that you want to do about every 18 months to two years. With our field sales teams, we're seeing that expansion more than 10%. uh field reimbursement more than 50 percent or remote sales teams more than 10 so it's really meaningful um and we're excited about that opportunity we've posted those roles we're already in the process of hiring we've already identified several of those candidates uh so we expect those uh those folks to be in in place by the end of this quarter that's our plan

speaker
Dr. Jeffrey Dano
President and CEO

Thanks for the question. Great. Thanks, Adam. Yeah, thanks, Adam. And with regard to the second question on business development, you know, business development, you know, remains a high priority for us, obviously, you know, with a very strong balance sheet, and we want to deploy that capital and, you know, invest in the business. As we said, you know, the sweet spot, the focus continues to be orphan rare CNS. opportunities, late-stage development, as well as commercial on market. We have the capacity to do that. Obviously, we have a strong commercial engine. We'd like to build out the commercial portfolio. Dedicated business development team. And we're also looking, and we've said this before, adjacencies, broader opportunities. CNS indications. Obviously, we share today a new opportunity that we're very excited about based on newly licensed IP with a new formulation of Pitocin where we see a significant opportunity around fatigue in broader CNS populations. So we are focused and committed to those efforts, deploy our capital towards business development. Sandeep, any thoughts on capacity?

speaker
Sandeep Kapadia
Chief Financial and Administrative Officer

Yeah, look, I think we're in a very strong position. We have over $880 million in cash on the balance sheet. Last quarter. And just to your question, I mean, not only, obviously, we're looking at business development, but, of course, we also have $150 million capacity on the share buyback. So we're always looking at opportunities to drive value for shareholders, and that's something that, you know, we have the optionality as a company to move forward there.

speaker
Jeff

Very good. Thanks, Sandeep. Yeah, thank you.

speaker
Angela
Conference Operator

Thank you. And we'll go next to Soyun Shin. with UBI. Please go ahead.

speaker
Soyun Shin
Analyst, UBI Research

Good morning. Thank you for taking my question and congrats on the great year. I have two questions, if I may. First, it seems like the settlement for generic entry with the three additional antifilers are now four months early, March 2030, if pediatric exclusivity is granted from the prior settlement agreement of July 30. July 2030. So just wanted to check if I'm understanding it correctly. Does it mean without the pediatric exclusivity, the generic entry would start no earlier than September 2029 now? And my second question is on pre-trial release syndrome indication for WCAG. So the phase three reading out second half of this year, potential to define 2028. Here, I was wondering what are your envisioning opportunities from the PWS It would support the pediatric exclusivity for weight gain and delay generic entry too, but on just the PWS indication itself, the runway would just be about two years from launch if approved. Are you thinking of trying the PWS with the pitolis and HD as well?

speaker
Dr. Jeffrey Dano
President and CEO

So, Yoon, thanks for your questions. With regards to your first one about the timing of the settlements, you are correct in terms of without the pediatric exclusivity, market entry would be September 2029. But we are, you know, we are on track, making very good progress towards pediatric exclusivity. We should take it to March of 2030. One of the important components of that, obviously after the PEDS narcolepsy data, is the Prod or Willie program, both for potential indication, but the larger market opportunity, I think, as you're aware, is the six-month extension. with the PEDS exclusivity. Kumar, further thoughts on that?

speaker
Dr. Kumar Bajor
Chief Medical and Scientific Officer

Good morning, Sui. With the PWS, in the U.S. alone, there are approximately 15,000 patients with Prader-Willi syndrome. About half of these patients have significant excessive daytime sleepiness for which there are no drugs approved. So if we are successful with this study, we will go for an indication, really addressing high unmet need in this patient population. And in terms of pitot-recent HD being a potential option to pursue PWS, that's not how we are thinking right now, but that option is always open to us. Thank you.

speaker
Soyun Shin
Analyst, UBI Research

I see. Thank you.

speaker
Angela
Conference Operator

Thank you. And we'll take our next question from David Huang with Deutsche Bank. Your line is now open.

speaker
David Huang
Analyst, Deutsche Bank

Hi. Good morning. Thanks for taking my questions. So maybe on the new Pitollasen formulation, could you talk a little bit about what characteristics and profile you expect to see with that product? How is it different from, let's say, Pitollasen HD? And are there characteristics that lend itself to MSVT-related conditions? And then maybe a second question just around the IP estate for some of these lifecycle management products. So could you just summarize again for us the IP that you either currently have or expect to obtain for Pitollas and GR, HD, and then the new formulation? Thank you.

speaker
Dr. Kumar Bajor
Chief Medical and Scientific Officer

Kumari, on the new opportunity. Good morning, David. Thanks for the question. Regarding the new formulation, as we evaluated this opportunity, there might be some potential options for us with this new formulation that could potentially differentiate itself in terms of the PK parameters that probably will lend itself. better for the treatment of fatigue in larger indications. Obviously, once we complete the human PK study, that's when we will get to know how exactly this will play out in humans, and that will help us determine the next steps. But for now, we are really excited about this particular formulation because as I mentioned earlier to the other question, this is a very unique opportunity for us to pursue fatigue in broader CNS indication.

speaker
Dr. Jeffrey Dano
President and CEO

And David, in terms of your second question about the IP estate, just briefly as a reminder, Pitocin-GR and Pitocin-HD utility patents filed out to 2044. This new formulation of Pitocin, the opportunity there is actually an issued patent that we have a license to out to 2042. So formulation work continues on. As Kumar mentioned, the potential of other modes of administration, looking at, you know, the potential, some of these patient populations where there's swallowing dysfunction and other methods of delivery, but an issued patent out to 2042.

speaker
Angela
Conference Operator

Thank you. And we'll take our last question from Ami Fadia with Needham & Company. Your line is now open.

speaker
Purna
Analyst, Needham & Company

Hi, this is Purna on for Ami. Thank you for taking our question. Are there any recent updates for the enrollment from the Argus and the Lighthouse studies? And just in case I missed this, what are the targets for the recent Salesforce expansion and when do you see that impact coming through? Thank you.

speaker
Dr. Kumar Bajor
Chief Medical and Scientific Officer

Good morning, Purna. Argus and Lighthouse Study, they continue to enroll, and we continue to make progress. We are on track for top line data in first half of 2027, and we do find 2028.

speaker
Dr. Jeffrey Dano
President and CEO

And the second question, just clarify.

speaker
Purna
Analyst, Needham & Company

I just want to know when do you see the impact from the Salesforce expansion coming through?

speaker
Adam Zeske
Chief Commercial Officer

Yeah, and there was a question around the targets as well. We did add some targets, but let's say it was about 5%, so not a huge add. It's really improving our share of voice and rebalancing territories targeted at the existing target areas. base that we've been targeting for some time. And when would we expect to see that impact? Obviously, as I mentioned, we'd like to get those folks on board and in place by the end of this quarter. And so from the impact standpoint, I guess you would expect to see the impact from that point forward.

speaker
Jeff

Thank you.

speaker
Angela
Conference Operator

Thank you. I'm showing no further questions. I would now like to turn the call back over for any closing remarks.

speaker
Dr. Jeffrey Dano
President and CEO

Thank you, operator. And thanks, everyone, for joining our call this morning for your interest in Harmony Biosciences. And have a great rest of your day. Thank you.

speaker
Angela
Conference Operator

This does conclude today's Harmony Biosciences fourth quarter and full year 2025 financial results conference call. You may now disconnect your line and have a wonderful day.

Disclaimer

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