Axsome Sees AUVELITY Prescriptions Accelerate as Alzheimer's Launch Gains Traction

Axsome Therapeutics NASDAQ: AXSM executives said the company is seeing accelerating prescription growth for AUVELITY following its sales-force expansion and the recent launch of the drug in Alzheimer’s disease agitation, while management expects operating expenses to remain relatively stable in the second half of the year.

Speaking at Morgan Stanley’s Global Healthcare Conference, Chief Financial Officer Nick Pizzie said the majority of AUVELITY prescription growth in the second quarter was tied to major depressive disorder and the expanded commercial organization. More recently, however, the Alzheimer’s disease agitation indication has begun to contribute more meaningfully to new-to-brand prescription trends.

“The agitation indication is the fastest-growing segment within the NBRXs,” Pizzie said, referring to new-to-brand prescriptions. He said patients aged 65 and older represented about 19% of AUVELITY new-to-brand prescriptions in the four weeks preceding approval for the new indication, compared with roughly 31% more recently.

Pizzie said AUVELITY reached a record 3,800 weekly new-to-brand prescriptions on the Friday before the conference. Average weekly new-to-brand prescriptions were about 2,400 in the first quarter and 3,000 in the second quarter, he said. The company had also recorded three consecutive weeks of its highest new-to-brand prescription levels.

Chief Operating Officer Mark Jacobson said Axsome expects the commercial effects of both its expanded field force and Alzheimer’s disease agitation launch to emerge over one to two quarters, rather than produce an immediate jump in overall prescription data. He said the company is focused on new-to-brand prescriptions and new prescribers as earlier indicators of adoption, which it expects eventually to translate into total prescription growth.

Jacobson added that physician feedback on AUVELITY in Alzheimer’s disease agitation has been encouraging, with prescribers reporting that the product is working well and demonstrating a favorable tolerability profile. The company is using a sampling program that includes a three-week titration pack for Alzheimer’s disease agitation. Jacobson said sample conversion rates can fluctuate during the early launch period, including because some patients transitioning from other therapies may be titrated more slowly or receive maintenance-dose samples. Axsome has not disclosed sample conversion rates and does not plan extensive commentary on its sampling strategy.