Anthea Li

Anthea Li of Jefferies inquired about Veru's new modified-release formulation of Inovasarm, asking about its potential for fixed-dose combinations with oral GLP-1s and any updates on ex-U.S. partnering discussions.

Answer

Chairman, President & CEO, Mitchell Steiner, confirmed that a fixed-dose combination with oral GLP-1s is feasible and could extend patent life. He stated that Veru is actively engaged in partnership discussions with three categories of companies: established GLP-1 market leaders, large pharmaceutical companies looking to enter the weight-loss space, and companies developing their own GLP-1s that need a differentiator. The primary goal of these discussions is to secure non-dilutive funding for future studies.

Anthea Li, on for Dennis Ding of Jefferies, questioned the potential for a fixed-dose combination of oral enobosarm with oral GLP-1s, the comparative hsCRP reduction of sabizabulin versus Colchicine, and the feasibility of a Phase II study given the company's cash position.

Answer

Chairman, CEO, and President Dr. Mitchell Steiner confirmed a fixed-dose oral combination is possible and attractive. Regarding sabizabulin, he stated that while its mechanism is similar to Colchicine, it has a superior safety profile without the drug-drug interactions with statins, making it a "safety play." He expects similar or better hsCRP reduction. Dr. Steiner also affirmed the company has sufficient cash to operate through the end of the calendar year, covering key data readouts.

Anthea Li, on for Dennis Ding, requested an update on enrollment and follow-up in the long-term extension study for CAH and asked what would constitute a critical mass of data for a public update.

Answer

Dr. R. Struthers, CEO, confirmed that enrollment in the open-label extension (OLE) is ongoing but declined to provide specific numbers or timing for a data release. He emphasized the OLE's value in gathering real-world evidence and stated that data would be presented at a scientific meeting once a sufficient dataset is available.

Anthea, on for Dennis Ding at Jefferies, asked about plans to share full data from the lupus study and its potential read-through to dermatomyositis (DM). She also inquired about physician willingness to prescribe JAK inhibitors in DM and the extent of current off-label use.

Answer

CEO Matt Gline noted the lupus study was run by Pfizer and that the total brepocitinib dataset is more informative than any single trial. Priovant CEO Ben Zimmer added that a key lesson from lupus was the importance of managing placebo response. He confirmed that JAKs are used 'pretty extensively' off-label in DM, citing published case reports, and that rheumatologists and dermatologists are very comfortable with the drug class.