Supernus Pharmaceuticals - Earnings Call - Q1 2025

Executive Summary

• Q1 2025 total revenues were $149.8M, up 4% year over year; excluding legacy Trokendi XR and Oxtellar XR, non-GAAP revenues grew 26% to $126.8M. Adjusted operating earnings rose 16% to $25.9M despite a GAAP operating loss of $(10.3)M driven by contingent consideration tied to ONAPGO milestones.
• Revenue modestly beat S&P Global consensus ($149.824M vs $147.936M; +$1.9M), and Primary EPS (normalized) beat (actual $0.44 vs $0.37); GAAP diluted EPS was a loss of $(0.21) due to taxes and the ONAPGO milestone accounting, creating a mixed optics but clean underlying run-rate improvement for core brands. Values retrieved from S&P Global.*
• ONAPGO (apomorphine infusion device) launched in April; initial physician response and enrollment forms across >75% of territories indicate early traction, supported by an established PD infrastructure.
• Full-year 2025 guidance was reiterated (total revenues $600–$630M; non-GAAP adjusted operating earnings $105–$130M), signaling confidence in Qelbree and GOCOVRI momentum while acknowledging continued generic erosion in legacy products.
• Potential stock reaction catalysts: continued Qelbree prescription and prescriber growth, ONAPGO adoption curve, and GOCOVRI Medicare co-pay tailwinds; watch for Paragraph IV ANDAs on Qelbree (press release May 28) as an overhang and litigation timeline risk.

What Went Well and What Went Wrong

What Went Well

• Qelbree net sales up 44% YoY to $64.7M; prescriptions up 22%, with March 2025 reaching an all-time high of 75,277. “Our first quarter results reflect, once again, double-digit revenue growth from our core products” — CEO Jack Khattar.
• GOCOVRI net sales up 16% YoY to $30.7M; Medicare IRA lowered average co-pay by 42%, with 84% of Medicare prescriptions costing < $25, supporting prescription growth and possibly offsetting increased mandatory payments.
• Non-GAAP adjusted operating earnings increased 16% to $25.9M, demonstrating underlying profitability of the core portfolio despite legacy erosion and launch investments.

What Went Wrong

• GAAP net loss was $(11.8)M (diluted EPS $(0.21)); operating loss widened to $(10.3)M primarily due to higher contingent consideration tied to ONAPGO milestones and higher SG&A/R&D.
• Legacy erosion: Trokendi XR (-20% YoY to $12.8M) and Oxtellar XR (-62% YoY to $10.2M) continued to weigh on reported growth; management expects further erosion in 2025.
• Tax contributed to optics: despite a pre-tax loss, income tax expense was $6.0M, exacerbating the GAAP net loss and widening the gap versus normalized EPS optics.

Transcript

Operator (participant)

Good afternoon and welcome to Supernus Pharmaceuticals' First Quarter 2025 Financial Results Conference Call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. Later, we will conduct a question-and-answer session. Instructions will follow at that time. As a reminder, this conference call is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to Peter Vozzo of ICR Westwicke, Investor Relations representative for Supernus Pharmaceuticals. You may begin.

Peter Vozzo (Managing Director)

Thank you, Lauren. Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for joining us today for Supernus Pharmaceuticals' First Quarter 2025 Financial Results Conference Call. Today, after the close of the market, the company issued a press release announcing these results. On the call with me today are Supernus Chief Executive Officer Jack Khattar and Chief Financial Officer Tim Dec. This call is being made available via the investor relations section of the company's website at ir.supernus.com. During the course of this call, management may make certain forward-looking statements regarding future events and the company's future performance. These forward-looking statements reflect Supernus' current perspective on existing trends and information. Any such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks and uncertainties, including those noted in the risk factors section of the company's latest SEC filings. Actual results may differ materially from those projected in these forward-looking statements.

For the benefit of those of you who may be listening to the replay, this call is being held and recorded on May 5th, 2025. Since then, the company may have made additional announcements related to the topics discussed. Please reference the company's most recent press releases and current filings with the SEC. Supernus declines any obligation to update these forward-looking statements except as required by applicable securities laws. I'm now to the call of Jack.

Jack Khattar (CEO)

Thank you, Peter. Good afternoon, everyone, and thanks for taking the time to join us on today's call. Our first quarter results reflect, once again, double-digit revenue growth from our core products, as well as solid growth in adjusted operating earnings. Total revenues, excluding Trokendi XR and Oxtellar XR, increased by 26% in the first quarter compared to the same quarter last year. Driving this growth was the robust performance of both Qelbree and GOCOVRI. These two products collectively accounted for 67% of total net sales, while Trokendi XR and Oxtellar XR accounted for only 9% and 7%, respectively. In the first quarter, Qelbree grew by 22% in prescriptions, as reported by IQVIA, and by 44% in net sales.

The product ended the first quarter in a strong position, with monthly prescriptions in March reaching an all-time high of 75,277, up 25% compared to the same period last year. In addition, we continued to expand the prescriber base for Qelbree, with the number of prescribers in the first quarter reaching 34,416, which is up by 23% compared to the first quarter last year. We are also excited about the new data from the open-label study in adults with ADHD and mood disorders. The data from all 161 adult patients will be presented at the American Psychiatric Association annual meeting later this month. The data show significant improvements in clinician and patient-rated measures of ADHD, depression, and anxiety symptoms, and the safety outcomes in the trial were consistent with the double-blind pivotal trial of Qelbree in adult ADHD.

Regarding GOCOVRI for the first quarter of 2025, prescriptions increased by 12% and net sales increased by 16% compared to the same quarter last year. The Medicare Inflation Reduction Act, with the reduced patient out-of-pocket costs, drove increased prescriptions for GOCOVRI among Medicare patients in the first quarter compared to the same period last year. On average, GOCOVRI's Medicare copay declined by 42% compared to the first quarter of 2024, and by March 2025, 84% of GOCOVRI's Medicare prescriptions were costing patients less than $25. In addition, prior authorizations and medical exception approval rates remained high in the quarter. These new dynamics and the resulting growth in the first quarter suggest that any potential negative impact from increased mandatory Medicare manufacturer payments for the year could end up being offset by increased prescriptions and gross sales in Medicare. Early in the second quarter, we launched ONAPGO, Supernus' next growth product.

It is the first and only subcutaneous apomorphine infusion device for the treatment of motor fluctuations in adults with advanced Parkinson's disease. It was launched with a support team of experts, including a nurse education program and access support, and utilizes our existing Parkinson's disease sales force and infrastructure. Initial response from physicians has been encouraging based on patient enrollment forms submitted early in the launch. In only a few weeks into the launch, more than 75% of the sales territories have generated one or more patient enrollment forms with more than 100 prescribers submitting such forms. Switching now to our legacy products for the first quarter of 2025, combined net sales of Trokendi XR and Oxtellar XR were down 46%. For the remainder of 2025, we expect further erosion in both product sales and maintain our 2025 guidance of $65 million-$75 million in combined net sales.

Moving on to our CNS pipeline of novel product candidates, we plan to initiate a follow-on phase IIb multicenter randomized double-blind placebo-controlled trial with SPN-820 in approximately 200 adults with major depressive disorder. This study will examine the safety and tolerability of SPN-820 at a dose of 2,400 mg, given intermittently twice per week as an adjunctive treatment to the current baseline antidepressant therapy, as well as assess the rapid onset of improvement in depressive symptoms. As we mentioned on our last call, we completed a pharmacokinetic study of two oral formulations of SPN-443 in healthy adults. Both formulations of SPN-443 showed adequate bioavailability and were well tolerated. SPN-443 is our new stimulant-like product candidate for ADHD and other CNS disorders. The company expects to disclose a lead indication for the product by the end of 2025.

Regarding corporate development, it continues to be a top priority for us, looking for strategic opportunities to further strengthen our future growth with revenue-generating products or late-stage pipeline product candidates. Finally, given the current environment for tariffs, it is difficult to predict what impact, if any, they could potentially have on our business. We do not expect tariffs on finished products to impact Qelbree, Trokendi XR, GOCOVRI, ONAPGO, or APOKYN, as they are either manufactured in the U.S. or are under arrangements that shield us from impact of tariffs. On the other hand, Myobloc, XADAGO, and Oxtellar XR finished products are manufactured in Europe or Canada and therefore could become subject to import tariffs. All our products' raw materials are imported from various countries outside the U.S.

Therefore, any potential impact from tariffs will highly depend on numerous factors, including, but not limited to, current inventory levels of various raw materials, timing of any new orders that may be subject to the tariffs, the country of origin for the various materials, and the applicable percentage tariffs. With that, I will now turn the call over to Tim.

Tim Dec (CFO)

Thank you, Jack. Good afternoon, everyone. As I review our first quarter 2025 results, please refer to today's press release and 10-Q that was filed earlier today. Total revenue for the first quarter of 2025 was $149.8 million compared to $143.6 million in the first quarter of 2024. Total revenue in the first quarter of 2025 was comprised of net product sales of $142 million and royalty revenues of $7.8 million. This $3.5 million increase in net product sales was primarily due to an increase in net product sales of our core products, Qelbree and GOCOVRI. Excluding net product sales of Trokendi XR and Oxtellar XR in both periods, total revenues for the first quarter of 2025 increased 26% compared to the first quarter of 2024. For the first quarter of 2025, combined R&D and SG&A expenses were $116.9 million, as compared to $111.4 million for the prior year quarter.

The increase was primarily due to higher R&D spend associated with our ongoing clinical programs as we continue to progress our pipeline. Operating loss on a GAAP basis for the first quarter of 2025 was $10.3 million, as compared to an operating loss of $3.2 million for the prior year period. This increase was primarily due to higher contingent consideration loss related to the achievement of ONAPGO-related milestones. GAAP net loss was $11.8 million for the first quarter of 2025, or a loss per diluted share of $0.21, compared to GAAP net earnings of $124,000, or earnings per diluted share of $0.00 in the prior year quarter. On a non-GAAP basis, which excludes amortization intangibles, share-based compensation, contingent consideration, and depreciation, adjusted operating earnings for the first quarter of 2025 was $25.9 million, compared to $22.3 million in the first quarter of 2024.

As of March 31st, 2025, the company had approximately $463.6 million in cash, cash equivalents, and marketable securities, compared to $453.6 million as of December 31st, 2024. This increase was primarily due to cash generated from operations, offset by a $25 million payment of the ONAPGO-related milestones in the first quarter of 2025. The company continues to have a strong balance sheet with significant financial flexibility for potential M&A or other value-creating opportunities. Now turning to guidance. For the full year 2025, the company reiterates its financial guidance for total revenue, combined R&D and SG&A expenses, and non-GAAP operating earnings. As such, we expect total revenues to range from $600 million-$630 million, comprised of net product sales and royalty revenue. For the full year 2025, we expect combined R&D and SG&A expenses to range from $435 million-$460 million.

Overall, we expect full year 2025 GAAP operating earnings loss in the range of $15 million GAAP operating loss to $10 million GAAP operating earnings, and non-GAAP operating earnings to range from $105 million-$130 million. Please refer to the earnings press release issued prior to this call that identifies the various ranges of reconciling earnings between GAAP and non-GAAP. With that, I will now turn the call back to the operator for Q&A. Operator.

Operator (participant)

Thank you. At this time, we will conduct the question-and-answer session. As a reminder, to ask a question, you will need to press star one one on your telephone and wait for your name to be announced. To withdraw your question, please press star one one again. Please stand by while we compile the Q&A roster. Our first question comes from the line of Andrew Tsai with Jefferies. Your line is now open.

Hey, this is John on for Andrew. Thanks for taking the question. Could you just please remind us the key growth drivers for Supernus in 2025? Is it fair that 2025 will be more about volume than price, or could sales still be driven by volume and price? Could you just provide a little more color on your decision to move forward with 820 and MDD? What kind of placebo-adjusted efficacy delta do you think you could ultimately show, and when can we expect data? Thanks.

Jack Khattar (CEO)

Yeah, regarding Qelbree, the growth is going to be combined, I mean, volume and a little bit of price. We took a price increase, a very small price increase in January, but the majority of the growth is going to be based on volume and growth in prescriptions. As we showed, I mean, we had a really good first quarter, although typically first quarter, you may see some a little bit slowdown in growth and so forth, or you may see a flattish trend in the first quarter. We're pretty happy with where we stand with Qelbree. As I mentioned, my remarks, March came in really high, all-time high of 75,000 plus as far as prescriptions are concerned, which are 25% growth versus last year.

We're pretty optimistic on where the band is and the position it's in in the first quarter, and certainly look forward to more growth in the subsequent quarters. As far as SPN-820, regarding the expectation as far as placebo-adjusted improvement in MADRS and so forth, if you remember in the open label, and it's very hard, of course, to make these comparisons because it was an open label study. We had very significant reduction in MADRS, and yet in the phase IIb subsequently, we had placebo effect in the 12-point, 10-12-point reduction in MADRS. If you account for something of that nature and we can do a little bit more than the placebo by five to eight points, which is typically what is considered to be clinically and medically relevant and significant, that will be something that certainly we will be shooting for.

Anything between around the five to eight-point reduction in MADRS placebo-adjusted will be a clinically significant reduction, and that certainly we hope to get even more than that given the initial results that we had way back in the open label. Again, the reason we decided to do the follow-on study on 820 is because of the different dosing regimen. We believe the mTORC1 mechanism is as such that this is a target that you do not have to hit very frequently every single day. If you do it intermittently, as we did back in the open label, we have a much better and higher chance of showing the impact of the drug.

Thanks so much. When could we possibly expect data readout from the study?

Yeah, at this point, we're looking, and we're not promising this yet because there is a lot of work to be done in preparation for the new study. At best case, we'll probably start the study before year-end this year. Therefore, we need a good year and a half to finish the study and get data. Depending on recruitment, of course, and looking at 200 patients to be randomized. Depending on how quickly we can do that. Now, it is MDD, so it should go a little bit faster than the TRD study. That will remain to be seen. We'll certainly update folks as time goes on.

Great. Thanks so much.

Operator (participant)

Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Stacy Ku with TD Cowen. Your line is now open.

Stacy Ku (Biotechnology Equity Research Analyst)

Hey, good afternoon. Thanks for taking our questions. The first is on Qelbree. Just how much of the normal seasonality or Q1 dynamics impacted Qelbree net pricing this quarter, and how should we think about the jump to Q2, the remainder of the year in terms of gross nets? Maybe could you comment on the level of comfort you might have around Qelbree consensus around $290 million for the year? That's kind of the first question. The second question is on ONAPGO. As we think about the infrastructure required, maybe talk about the plumbing to make sure all start forms can be transformed into patient prescriptions, getting patients on drug. What are your thoughts on the timing to go from a start form to getting ONAPGO to the patient? Thanks so much.

Jack Khattar (CEO)

Yeah, regarding Qelbree, Q1, as we always discuss, typically tends to have pressure on the gross net clearly and the total net price per prescription. In the first quarter, gross net went up to somewhere in the early 50s, 51%, 52%, somewhere in that region, which is very expected. Typically, if we do follow the typical trends, it should see some improvement in the second quarter and third quarter unless there is a one-time issue that pops up that is unforeseen, and that could cause quarter-to-quarter fluctuations. As far as the consensus of the $290 million annual, I mean, we feel comfortable with that number, although again, we do not give official guidance for product, but certainly the product is doing very well and should do very well for the rest of the year.

Regarding ONAPGO and the infrastructure, the infrastructure is very well established clearly because of the few years now we've been in this space and Parkinson's with APOKYN and GOCOVRI. The whole infrastructure from Salesforce to the health services, nurse educators, reimbursement help, all that has been already established and has been improved actually over the last several years in preparation as well for ONAPGO. It is a little bit hard right now because we just launched the product and we just started getting all the patient enrollment forms to give you a good idea as to how long the cycle would be from the patient enrollment form until the patient actually gets the product. From our experience from GOCOVRI and APOKYN and so forth, we are well within the industry average, if not a little bit better.

The same thing goes with the prior authorizations or getting the actual reimbursements. Really, how many out of the patient enrollment forms end up actually translating into actual product that gets in the hands of the patients, we typically run at a little bit better than industry average with our rates. It's north of the 40%-50%. It's in that range. We feel very optimistic about the process that we have and really making sure we can process these patient enrollment forms and get the product to the patient as soon as possible.

Stacy Ku (Biotechnology Equity Research Analyst)

Yeah. Thank you so much.

Operator (participant)

Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Annabel Samimy with Stifel. Your line is now open.

Hi, this is Jack on for Annabel. Thanks for taking our questions. Could you provide maybe some more details around reimbursement discussions and how we should think about the trajectory of launch for ONAPGO? Are there any points of differentiation that physicians are immediately looking towards compared to something like AbbVie's pump?

Jack Khattar (CEO)

Yeah, regarding reimbursement, as I mentioned earlier, we expect a very good level and percentage of these enrollment forms to end up going through all the way and fulfilled, actually fulfilled so that the patient ends up getting the product itself. We have complete support for that throughout the process. Right from the beginning, a patient enrollment form gets written up. It's really a very high level of service in taking that form and really walking it through with the health services all the way to make sure that the reimbursement adjudication for all that insurance and everything works out as smooth as possible.

We had actually, before we really launched the product, so to speak, we had some early ones that we ran through the process to test the process and make sure it is smooth so that when the product first became available and some of these forms started flowing through, we had the process worked out. We feel pretty confident about that. As far as the product's differentiation, I mean, the product clearly, first of all, it's a very different molecule than anything that is out there, except for, of course, APOKYN. Apomorphine is a very strong potent molecule that works very well. It's a good dopamine agonist, probably one of the best out there. It works really well.

We know that well from the efficacy and the data that came out of the study on ONAPGO as well as APOKYN in general, I mean, as a molecule. It is the only pump clearly that provides that option to patients, continuous infusion of apomorphine. A lot of patients out there do not have too many choices. If you have been on levodopa and carbidopa for so many years, do you really want to have another product that gives you also levodopa and carbidopa, or do you want to switch to something else that could be more beneficial? This is really a decision that clearly the movement disorder specialist will make as appropriate for each patient they have. There is a clear differentiation for the product also from safety, viability.

You can take a look at the label of our product versus the label of the other products out there. It will show some clear differentiation. As far as efficacy, they're fairly comparable, the two products, not as much of a differentiation. That is the general framework. Without having, obviously, head-to-head trials, it is very difficult to make these kinds of comparisons.

Got it. If I could just ask one more. For SPN-820, was there anything you were able to gather from the phase II in treatment-resistant depression that could either maybe revive that program and/or give you some extra comfort on the phase IIb in major depressive disorder? Do you see that indication as likely dropped at this point, or have you not finished going through that data?

Yeah, we didn't see from all the data and everything that we've been doing since we announced the results, we didn't see anything that points to the fact that it's an indication-driven difference that we saw between the two studies. The key difference is the dosing regimen. What I'm saying is initially we're going to go after MDD with the follow-on study. That doesn't mean we're giving up on TRD. We think the product will work in both, but MDD could be quicker as far as enrollment or what have you. That's why we chose to go with MDD at this point as a follow-on study. We're not giving up on TRD because we think that the product mechanistically, if it works in MDD, it should work in TRD.

The only reason it didn't work in the phase IIb most likely is because of the dosing regimen.

Understood. Thanks.

Operator (participant)

Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of David Amsellem with Piper Sandler. Your line is now open.

David Amsellem (Senior Research Analyst)

Thanks. Just a couple for me. First, on ONAPGO, I know these are early days, but what are you hearing in the field regarding competitive dynamics versus VYALEV, the AbbVie product? Specifically, are you getting any pushback regarding the use of apomorphine in general when there is another subQ pump available that delivers levodopa and carbidopa? That's number one, just talk to the competitive dynamics and what you are seeing and expect to see. Turning to the pipeline on 443, I know you're going to disclose a lead indication by the end of this year, but since it is a stimulant, is it fair to say that sleep-wake could be on the table here, either narcolepsy or idiopathic hypersomnia or both? How are you just thinking about that in terms of its fit for what you plan to do with that asset?

Thank you.

Jack Khattar (CEO)

Yeah, regarding ONAPGO, all I can say is initially, and this was again very early, as I mentioned in our prepared remarks, we're very encouraged actually with the reaction to the product, the receptivity, the response from physicians, and the level of activity that we've seen behind the product. We also started to get some initial feedback regarding our Circle of Care, which is our support system that we give our patients, positive feedback. Again, clearly, we've had this program for a number of years right now. We've kind of perfected it, improved over the year, and we've had it for GOCOVRI and APOKYN, and now we're applying it to ONAPGO. We emphasize, of course, the level of service that we're giving our patients and our physicians. We see that as a competitive advantage actually in the marketplace.

So far, all indications are very positive and very encouraging. I apologize to everybody because it's very early in the launch. Of course, it's only a few weeks, but certainly it's off to a very strong start, better than our expectations initially, and hopefully we'll continue to be that way. As far as, again, apomorphine versus levodopa and carbidopa, that is something that a physician will have to make that decision. I mean, if you have a patient, and these are patients that are advanced, progressed, and that's really the patient type that you're looking at for these infusion devices, if this is a patient who's been taking levodopa and carbidopa for five years, 10 years, 15 years, whatever the case might be, do you really want to put them back on levodopa and carbidopa?

With the other infusion device, because it is levodopa and carbidopa, you cannot use it as an add-on to the oral levodopa and carbidopa. Basically, you have to replace the oral completely. With our pump, because it is apomorphine, you could still continue to keep the patient on the oral levodopa and carbidopa while at the same time using ONAPGO infusion device that gives you apomorphine. That is another clear differentiation between the two products. Being an add-on could prove to be a potential advantage we will see in the marketplace. Regarding the pipeline and 443, we are looking at 443 as we have presented earlier a long time before as a potential stimulant for ADHD with potential Schedule IV instead of C2 scheduling. That would be a huge advantage in the marketplace.

We're also looking at it for other indications, and that's why we haven't made the final, final selection of what indication will be the lead indication. We could choose a lead indication and potentially other indications as well as a follow-on to the lead indication. We're still finalizing now some of the work we're doing, some animal models and so forth, and we'll make that decision before year-end. It's a pretty exciting asset, and it remains to be seen as to where we take it initially and then follow on with other indications potentially.

David Amsellem (Senior Research Analyst)

Okay. Thank you.

Operator (participant)

Thank you. As a reminder, to ask a question, you will need to press star one one on your telephone. Our next question comes from the line of Kristen Kluska with Cantor Fitzgerald. Your line is now open.

Peter Vozzo (Managing Director)

Hi, this is Ayan on the line for Kristen. Thank you for taking our questions. On Qelbree, do you have a sense of the proportion of naive patients that are getting on an ADHD medication for the first time and they're deciding on taking Qelbree? You previously mentioned the combination use within the adult population being around 35%-40% of the prescription. Has this changed?

Jack Khattar (CEO)

Yeah, regarding Qelbree, the split of the sorts of business or the sorts of patients, so to speak, it's around 32%, 33%, it bounces around, that are completely naive first-line treatment on Qelbree. The remaining 67%, 68% are basically switches, or most of them are switches from existing medications. The bulk of that switch typically comes from the stimulant side, products like Vyvanse, Adderall, and or the generics in general. The 35% of the switches typically is coming from the other non-stimulants like Strattera, Intuniv, and so forth. As far as the combination use, I think it's still around between the 35%-40% in adult being in combination.

It will be interesting to see as the data gets more disseminated and people learn more about some of the data and the label of the product and so forth, whether that will change over time. Potentially, it could, especially with a lot of the adults who have a lot of comorbidities. That remains to be seen. At this point, it's still around that range. Yeah.

Ayan Hussein (Equity Research Associate)

I got it. Thank you.

Operator (participant)

Thank you. I'm showing no further questions at this time. I would now like to turn it back to Jack Khattar for closing remarks.

Jack Khattar (CEO)

Thank you for joining us to learn about our operating performance in the first quarter of 2025. The company has executed well through the loss of exclusivity on two of its legacy products. Excluding these legacy products, we continue to deliver robust double-digit growth in revenues. Also, we continue to generate strong cash flows behind the strength of our portfolio, particularly our core products and through the efficiency of our operations. We believe we are well positioned for continued growth beyond the current transition and our focus on several key areas. First, driving growth and generating strong cash flow from our core products, allowing us to continue our investments in our pipeline. Second, the launch of ONAPGO and strengthening our leadership position in Parkinson's. Third, advancing our innovative R&D portfolio of differentiated first-in-class molecules.

Finally, continuing our emphasis on corporate development as a top priority to augment our growth through external opportunities. Thanks again for joining us this afternoon. We look forward to updating you on our next call.

Operator (participant)

Thank you for your participation in today's conference. This does conclude the program. You may now disconnect.