Morgan Stanley
The last question was what in the pipeline KG was excited about. He said CAH was #1 both for the drug itself and the internationalization of Neurocrine, which will be aided by the Diurnal acquisition. #2 was the M-4 agonist for schizophrenia and other psychiatric disorders.
Ingrezza for HC was also addressed and he said the delay in FDA filing was the completion of an open label safety study. He also noted that the addressable population with moderate to severe HC was 20K and that currently only 20% were on a VMAT-2 inhibitor. He said the problem with current therapy (Austedo) was that it required 4 - 8 pills per day in a population that has trouble swallowing. They also have a problem with extended release capsules because they tend to clench their teeth releasing too much at one time. I think HC presents a real opportunity.
The interviewer observed that Q3 and Q4 estimates for Ingrezza appeared to be conservative. KG said for some unknown reason, Q3 has been problematic. He also noted Covid might come back and that psychiatrists were still doing 50% telemedicine, which doesn't help the TD identification process.