Santarus Inc. Reports Operating Results (10-Q)

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May 07, 2010
Santarus Inc. (SNTS, Financial) filed Quarterly Report for the period ended 2010-03-31.

Santarus Inc. has a market cap of $182.1 million; its shares were traded at around $3.12 with a P/E ratio of 5.9 and P/S ratio of 1.1. SNTS is in the portfolios of Jim Simons of Renaissance Technologies LLC, Steven Cohen of SAC Capital Advisors.

Highlight of Business Operations:

Product Sales, Net. Product sales, net were $29.0 million for the three months ended March 31, 2010 and $27.6 million for the three months ended March 31, 2009 and consisted of sales of Zegerid Capsules and Zegerid Powder for Oral Suspension. The $1.4 million increase in product sales, net was comprised of approximately $6.5 million related to increased average selling prices offset in part by approximately $5.1 million related to a decrease in the sales volume of our Zegerid products, primarily driven by Zegerid Capsules.

License Fees and Royalties. License fees and royalties were $3.0 million for the three months ended March 31, 2010 and $1.8 million for the three months ended March 31, 2009. License fees and royalties consisted of royalties due to the University of Missouri based upon our net product sales and products sold by GSK under our license and distribution agreements. Beginning in the three months ended March 31, 2010, license fees and royalties also consisted of royalties due to the University of Missouri based upon sales of Zegerid OTC by Schering-Plough under our license agreement. License fees and royalties in both periods also included license fee amortization from the $12.0 million upfront fee paid to Depomed under our promotion agreement entered into in July 2008. The $12.0 million upfront fee has been capitalized and is being amortized to license fee expense over the estimated useful life of the asset on a straight-line basis through mid-2016.

Research and Development. Research and development expenses were $5.0 million for the three months ended March 31, 2010 and $3.1 million for the three months ended March 31, 2009. The $1.9 million increase in our research and development expenses was primarily attributable to the ongoing budesonide MMX phase III clinical program currently being conducted under our strategic collaboration with Cosmo entered into in December 2008. We are responsible for one-half of the total out-of-pocket costs associated with this program. In addition, the increase was attributable to costs associated with our phase III clinical program evaluating rifamycin SV MMX in patients with travelers diarrhea. In addition to the costs associated with our strategic collaboration with Cosmo, the increase in our research and development expenses was attributable to increased compensation costs associated with an increase in research and development personnel and annual merit increases. These increases were offset in part by a decrease in our research and development expenses due to payment of the user fee associated with the submission of our 505(b)(2) new drug application, or NDA, to the FDA for our new immediate-release omeprazole prescription product in a tablet formulation in the three months ended March 31, 2009.

Interest Income. Interest income was $22,000 for the three months ended March 31, 2010 and $92,000 for the three months ended March 31, 2009. The $70,000 decrease in interest income was primarily attributable to a lower rate of return on our cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments.

As of March 31, 2010, cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments were $90.8 million, compared to $93.9 million as of December 31, 2009, a decrease of $3.1 million.

Net cash used in operating activities was $3.0 million for the three months ended March 31, 2010 and $4.2 million for the three months ended March 31, 2009. Significant working capital uses of cash for the three months ended March 31, 2010 included decreases in accounts payable and accrued liabilities related to payment of annual corporate bonuses and other expenses accrued in 2009. Additional significant working capital uses of cash for the three months ended March 31, 2010 included increases in prepaid expenses and other current assets, offset in part by decreases in accounts receivable. Significant working capital uses of cash for the three months ended March 31, 2009 included decreases in accounts payable and accrued liabilities and decreases in deferred revenue. The working capital uses of cash for each period were offset in part by our net income for these periods, adjusted for non-cash expenses, including $1.0 million for the three months ended March 31, 2010 and $948,000 for the three months ended March 31, 2009 in stock-based compensation.

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