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Fuzeon’s $ales totals continue to shrink – A sad tale for Trimeris

Trimeris' headquarters in Morrisville.

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RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C. — Apparently there is a price that’s too high for better health. Ask the folks at Trimeris and its partner Roche.

Trimeris (Nasdaq: TRMS) reported this week that sales of its HIV drug Fuzeon continued to shrink worldwide. Sales in the U.S. and Canada have been hit especially hard.

Long criticized for its high cost ($10,000 a year) and inconvenience (the drug must be injected), Fuzeon appears to be headed toward irrelevance as Trimeris, which is based in Morrisville, continues to shrivel toward sale – or disappearance.

The sales data as released by Trimeris tell a sad story:

• Through the first nine months of this year, Fuzeon sales are down 37 percent from a year earlier to $126.5 million.
• In the huge U.S. and Canadian drug markets, sales plummeted 48 percent to (ironically) $48 million compared with a year earlier.
• For the third quarter, U.S. and Canada sales dropped to $14.9 million - a whopping 51 percent. Overall sales were down 39 percent to $45.5 million from the same quarter a year ago.

What’s Trimeris to do next?

The company and Roche have researched different means of delivering the drug. They have offered counseling help to patients. Nothing seems to have helped.

A year ago, prospects appeared better. Fuzeon sales increased 14 percent compared with the first nine months of 2006. But much more was expected.

As Fuzeon failed to find the market expected of it, Trimeris has basically imploded with changes in management teams not helping staunch the bad news.

Roche, the international drug giant that manufactures, markets and sells the drug, reported the sales totals. Trimeris passed on the bad news in a brief statement without comment. Trimeris plans an earnings call early next month. The news won’t be good, based on these figures, although Trimeris has cut staff, ended product development and taken other austerity measures to conserve cash.

Who would have ever thought an effective HIV drug would not be a financial success as well? Some people warned from the beginning about costs and convenience. It appears they were correct.

The Skinny

WRAL Local Tech Wire Publisher and Editor Rick Smith dishes out tidbits from the local technology sector. Read more articles…