Spectrum Pharma: Guessing Q3 Fusilev Sales

HENDERSON, Nev. (TheStreet) --September sales of the Spectrum Pharmaceuticals' (SPPI) colon cancer drug Fusilev totaled $31.5 million in September, according to an estimate compiled by healthcare research firm Wolters Kluwer Wednesday.

For the three months that make up the third quarter, Fusilev estimated sales totaled $99 million. July sales were $31.8 million, August sales $35.4 million, according to Wolters Kluwer.

How accurately the Fusilev sales estimates track actual sales reported by Spectrum is a guessing game. In the second quarter, Spectrum reported Fusilev sales of $56.6 million, short of the $97 million suggested by the Wolters Kluwer monthly sales data.

Wolters Kluwer tracks gross sales of Fusilev while Spectrum reports net sales that subtract discounts, rebates and other financial incentives to doctors. As previously reported, Spectrum increased Fusilev discounting in the June quarter, which lowered the effective net selling price of Fusilev.

If the same rough gross-to-net discounting trend continued in the third quarter, Spectrum could report slightly higher Fusilev sales of around $57 million.

With so few analysts covering Spectrum, generating consensus estimates is difficult. Roth Capital Partners' Joe Pantginis lowered his third-quarter Fusilev sales estimate to $50.1 million from $58.2 million. RBC Capital's Adnan Butt is forecasting $59.4 million in Fusilev sales for the quarter.

Fusilev sales comprised 86% of Spectrum's second-quarter revenue so how well the drug performs is vitally important to the company's future growth. Spectrum continues to benefit from supply shortages of leucovorin, a cheaper, generic equivalent to Fusilev.

Spectrum shares were up 1% to $11.36 in early Wednesday trading. The stock is down 20% for the year despite a strong returns for the biotech sector, generally.

-- Reported by Adam Feuerstein in Boston.

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