scPharmaceuticals Inc (SCPH) Q1 2025 Earnings Call Highlights: Revenue Surge and Strategic Expansion

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Thu, May 15, 2025, 1:16 AM 4 min read

Net Revenue: $11.8 million for Q1 2025.
FUROSCIX Doses Filled: Approximately 13,800 doses in Q1 2025.
Gross to Net Discount: Approximately 23% in Q1 2025, with an anticipated blended GTN of approximately 30% for the balance of 2025.
Product Revenues Comparison: $11.8 million in Q1 2025 compared to $6.1 million in Q1 2024.
Cost of Product Revenues: $3.5 million in Q1 2025 compared to $1.8 million in Q1 2024.
Cash and Cash Equivalents: $57.5 million as of March 31, 2025, compared to $75.7 million as of December 31, 2024.

Warning! GuruFocus has detected 5 Warning Signs with SCPH.

Release Date: May 14, 2025

For the complete transcript of the earnings call, please refer to the full earnings call transcript.

Positive Points

scPharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:SCPH) reported a significant increase in net revenue for Q1 2025, reaching $11.8 million compared to $6.1 million in Q1 2024.
The company successfully launched FUROSCIX for chronic kidney disease (CKD) in April 2025, expanding its market reach.
The Medicare Part D redesign is expected to be a net tailwind for FUROSCIX, with increased fill rates and prescribing due to lower out-of-pocket costs for patients.
The company has seen a rapid adoption of FUROSCIX in the CKD market, with prescriptions being filled quickly after initial calls to nephrologists.
scPharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:SCPH) has expanded its sales force, resulting in greater reach and frequency to target prescribers, which has increased demand for FUROSCIX.

Negative Points

The gross to net discount for FUROSCIX increased to approximately 23% in Q1 2025, with an anticipated rise to 30% over the year, impacting revenue.
Net cash outflows were significant in Q1 2025, with cash and cash equivalents decreasing from $75.7 million at the end of 2024 to $57.5 million.
The company faces challenges with high copays for Medicare patients, although this is expected to improve as more patients reach their out-of-pocket maximums.
There is limited visibility on the percentage of Medicare patients enrolled in the copay smoothing program, which affects the predictability of fill rates.
The company anticipates a continued increase in cost of goods sold (COGS) until the Autoinjector is fully implemented, which is expected to reduce COGS by 70% to 75%.

Q & A Highlights

Q: What signs of growing physician traction are you seeing with the launch in CKD, and what are the characteristics of the newer patients getting FUROSCIX? A: Steve Parsons, Senior Vice President of Commercial, noted that the response has been very positive, with new accounts and nephrologists prescribing FUROSCIX for both CKD and heart failure. The launch is meeting early expectations, and prescriptions from nephrology are accelerating.

Q: Do you expect the increase in sales to IDNs to continue into subsequent quarters in 2025? A: John Tucker, CEO, confirmed that Q2 is expected to be much bigger than Q1 in IDNs. The strategy is a key component, allowing doctors to order directly through their EMR, facilitating discharge, and showing significant growth quarter-over-quarter.

Q: How is the CKD launch progressing compared to the early heart failure launch for FUROSCIX? A: Steve Parsons stated that the CKD launch adoption is much faster than heart failure. Prescriptions are being written the same day as calls, indicating pent-up demand. Reimbursement for CKD is similar to heart failure, with prescriptions mostly going through with a simple prior authorization.

Q: With the Part D redesign, do you have visibility when patients use up their out-of-pocket expenses? A: John Tucker explained that while they can see copays and CMS claims for patients in catastrophic coverage, real-time visibility at the doctor's office is limited. The hub alerts patients about copays and promotes smoothing to doctors, which has increased patient enrollment in smoothing programs.

Q: Are you seeing patients with only CKD getting prescriptions for FUROSCIX, or are they mostly comorbid with heart failure? A: Steve Parsons confirmed that there are CKD-only patients receiving FUROSCIX, but many also have heart failure, which is beneficial as nephrology is now being targeted for both conditions.

Q: Can you share the doses per script in Q1 and any initial insights on CKD patients' doses per script? A: Steve Parsons reported an average of 7.4 doses per script in Q1, up from 6.8 in Q4. The doses per script for CKD patients have been similar to those for heart failure.

Q: What are your thoughts on the current trends and growth projections for the year? A: John Tucker expressed confidence in the full year and Q2, noting an inflection in volume starting in March and continuing into April and May. Despite GTN headwinds, the company is bullish on growth due to lower patient copays and increased prescriptions.

Q: How has the improvement in fill rate in April been driven, and what are the expectations moving forward? A: John Tucker highlighted a noticeable increase in $0 copays in Q2, leading to higher fill rates. The improvement is attributed to patients reaching their out-of-pocket cap or enrolling in smoothing, with expectations for continued growth as copays cannot increase.

For the complete transcript of the earnings call, please refer to the full earnings call transcript.

This article first appeared on GuruFocus.

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