Boston, MA 08/05/2014 (wallstreetpr) – Biopharmaceutical company Arena Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARNA) disclosed that it had witnessed encouraging advancements of BELVIQ commercialization with the prescriptions recording a significant quarter-over-quarter growth. The company had also struck a marketing and supply deal in Israel for its BELVIQ.
Prescriptions Growth
The company indicated that there was a quarter-over-quarter growth of 43% in total prescriptions of BELVIQ. Significantly, it has exceeded 10K mark on a weekly basis. It also said that IMS Health projected that about 110K prescriptions were filed for BELVIQ during the second quarter.
Arena Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARNA)’s Eisai registered net product sales of $9.9 million for BELVIQ, and it had completed its objective of increasing over 200 sales representatives in its unit of Metabolic Business. It had also lifted the sales force by 50% for BELVIQ to about 600. The addition of sales force would allow the company to extend its reach to cover about 92K physicians in the U.S.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration had earlier given its approval for Arena’s BELVIQ to be used with a reduced calorie diet besides more physical activity for the unending management of weight in adult patients. It is believed to cut consumption of food and also promote satiety through selective activation of serotonin 2C receptors in the brain.
2Q Results
Arena Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARNA) had reported net income of $7.5 million or 3 cents a share for the second quarter, sharply down from $40.1 million or 18 cents a share in the year-ago quarter. Revenues also plummeted to $12.8 million from $68.93 million in the previous year quarter. While net product sales jumped to $3.53 million from $1.32 million, Eisai collaborative revenue plunged to $8.55 million from $66.46 million in the year earlier quarter. Revenue from manufacturing services also fell to $578K from $973K in the same quarter last year.
Arena Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARNA)’s research and development expenses jumped to $27.03 million from $18.83 million in the 2013-second quarter. It closed the quarter with cash and cash equivalents of $200.8 million.
