Collegium Pharmaceutical at Needham Conference: Strategic Growth Focus

On Tuesday, 08 April 2025, Collegium Pharmaceutical (NASDAQ: COLL) presented at the 24th Annual Needham Virtual Healthcare Conference. The company outlined an ambitious growth strategy, highlighting both opportunities and challenges. With significant revenue growth projected for 2025 and a focus on diversifying its product portfolio, Collegium aims to enhance shareholder value while navigating potential market challenges.

Key Takeaways

• Collegium forecasts 2025 revenues between $735 million and $750 million, reflecting an 18% growth.
• Jornay PM is expected to grow over 35% year-over-year, driving significant sales.
• The company plans to maintain resilience against tariffs with US-based manufacturing.
• Strategic capital allocation focuses on portfolio expansion, debt repayment, and share repurchases.
• Management emphasized the company's evolution into a diversified biopharmaceutical entity.

Financial Results

• 2024 Sales: Exceeded $630 million.
• 2025 Revenue Guidance: Anticipated between $735 million and $750 million, marking an 18% growth.
• Debt to EBITDA Ratio: Expected to fall below 1x by the end of 2025, down from 1.8-1.9x.

Operational Updates

• Jornay PM Sales Force Expansion: Increased to 180 representatives to reach more prescribers.
• Targeted Prescribers: Plan to target over 21,000 prescribers, up from 17,000.
• Market Coverage: Achieved 80% formulary coverage, with 65% commercial and 35% Medicaid.
• Pain Portfolio Sales Force: Maintained at 95 territories.

Future Outlook

• Growth Drivers: Emphasis on expanding Jornay PM usage and maintaining robust pain business revenues.
• BD Focus: Targeting commercial-stage products that leverage existing infrastructure.
• Capital Allocation: Prioritizing portfolio expansion, debt reduction, and share repurchases.
• Diversification Strategy: Transitioning into a broader biopharmaceutical company.

Q&A Highlights

• Tariffs: Products are protected from tariff volatility due to US-based manufacturing.
• BD Criteria: Focus on products with unmet needs and strong intellectual property.
• Xtampza LOE: Settlement with Teva extends to September 2033.
• BELBUCA and Nucynta: Expected stabilization and growth, with extended LOE timelines.

Readers interested in more detailed insights are encouraged to refer to the full transcript below.

Full transcript - 24th Annual Needham Virtual Healthcare Conference:

Serge Belanger, Health Care Analyst, Needham and Company: Hi. Good morning. My name is Serge Belanger. I'm one of the health care analysts at, Needham and Company. Wanna welcome you to, day two of our twenty fourth annual health care conference.

And for our next fireside chat session, we have, the Collegium Pharmaceutical team with us this morning. So from Collegium, we have president and CEO, Vikram Karnani, and, the company's CFO, Colleen Tupper. So I'll hand it over to the Collegium team to give us a a quick overview of the company for those who aren't familiar with Collegium, and then, we'll move on to to some q and a in the fireside chat format. So, Vikram or or Colleen.

Vikram Karnani, President and CEO, Collegium Pharmaceutical: Great. Thanks, Serge. Thanks, thanks for having us on. Good morning, everyone. Introducing, Collision Pharmaceutical.

We're a leading highly profitable biopharmaceutical company focused on commercializing differentiated medicines for serious medical conditions. We have five marketed products in with a current focus in chronic pain and ADHD in the neuropsychiatry space. We had 2024 sales in excess of 630,000,000, and we're expected in 2025 to be in the 07/1935 to $750,000,000 range, which represents 18% growth at the midpoint in 2025. We have a strong track record of using our cash to fuel strategic and highly successful business development activities. And importantly, we began diversifying our business in 2024 with the acquisition of Ionshore Therapeutics, which added Jone APM, the highly differentiated ADHD medicine into our portfolio, which provided entry into neuropsychiatry.

Our commitment is to increase shareholder value by increasing revenues, adjusted EBITDA, and the strategic deployment of capital in 2025 and beyond. So maybe I'll pause there and and, turn it back over to you, Serge.

Serge Belanger, Health Care Analyst, Needham and Company: Great. Thanks for for the overview. Maybe if we start, jumping to specific questions about Collegium. You know, one of the topics du jour these days is is tariffs. And I know pharmaceutical pharmaceutical products have been exempted, but I think there is an expectation that it's only temporary.

So just curious if you can give us an overview of where the Collegium products are manufactured and, you know, what would be your exposure to potential tariffs if they were to to to come on board here?

Vikram Karnani, President and CEO, Collegium Pharmaceutical: Yeah. Great question. It is the issue du jour. And, I think one thing to understand about the Collegium, product portfolio is that given that we are governed by the the DEA regulations, we are required to have our products fully manufactured in The United States. We're we're and as far as our sales go, our vast majority, if not all of it, is in The United States.

So when it as it relates to tariffs or or or some of the other federal spending pieces or what have you that have been talked about recently, what I'd like to say is that our portfolio is uniquely positioned to, frankly, be quite sheltered from a lot of that volatility that is being that is being experienced by the marketplace right now because of the nature of our products and because of our supply chain being primarily in The US or or frankly, almost all of it in The US. So it's it's thank you for the question because I think it is an important point of differentiation for our Collegium product portfolio.

Serge Belanger, Health Care Analyst, Needham and Company: Great. And and then, you know, there's been a number of recent changes at the company in terms of the the management team as well as some some recent board changes. So how should we think of all these changes and what it means to the overall corporate strategy of of the company?

Vikram Karnani, President and CEO, Collegium Pharmaceutical: Yeah. Great question. Look, as we as we have embarked on our next phase of growth, you know, any changes that we've announced in the on the management team or, or on the board are reflective of that vision. And the vision remains the same. Right?

We wanna build a company, and we've been on that journey for a while to to build a company with a diversified portfolio of medicines that address real and making need for patients, and and we offer attractive returns for our shareholders. As I've talked about the fact that the key revenue growth driver this year is Jorn APM. That was as a result of diversification via acquisition last year. And we have a very strong portfolio of our, pain medicines, which continues to deliver significant cash. So in totality, we continue to, leverage our strong position both in terms of top line growth and cash generation to continue to add new products and diversify the company.

So I would say that the the changes that that that you see on the management team or or the board are are reflective of our continuation on that journey rather than, you know, it's there's no major strategic pivot or anything of that sort at this time.

Serge Belanger, Health Care Analyst, Needham and Company: Okay. I think you mentioned BD would remain a focus for the company. Mhmm. Just curious if your, you know, criteria for BD targets has changed. I know in the past, the company had a a list of various criteria they wanted to meet when they were looking at, their their BD targets.

So just curious, you know, if there's been an update on those.

Vikram Karnani, President and CEO, Collegium Pharmaceutical: Yep. The BD remains one of our absolute key priorities. We prefer commercial or near commercial products right now that we expect to leverage. We'd like to leverage our existing infrastructure that we've already invested in. That will be the most ideal place to find BD targets.

We'd look for areas of unmet need and real product differentiation. That's important to us. We look for medicines that have significant runway in terms of IP longevity. We are you know, at this point, we're not necessarily tied to a specific therapeutic area. We are as as you know, we are a leader in responsible pain management.

We have taken our first step of diversification into neuropsychiatry with ADHD. But as it relates to newer areas, we're open to it. Our the bar is higher, though. We need to make sure that if we enter into a new area that we are being capital efficient rather than rather than, you know, something that requires a a huge amount of investment or build out. We have a history of being highly strong on the cash generation front and returning cash to our shareholders, and and we'd like to continue to to have a profile that not only drives top line, but also significant bottom line growth over the years.

Serge Belanger, Health Care Analyst, Needham and Company: Okay. And, again, I'm going back to the to the past since I've I've followed the company for for a long time. But, you know, typically, there was a a period of two to three years between acquisitions as they they integrated the new product or or the company they had acquired. Is that still kind of the the timeline for to to get more involved in BD activities, or it's something you you would be in a position to pull the trigger on as soon as this year, despite, you know, acquiring, Jornay last year?

Vikram Karnani, President and CEO, Collegium Pharmaceutical: Look, great question. I don't, I don't know that we have a specific, timeline that we that we that we want to try to stick to. I think what the way I would answer the question is we are focused on building out our our our profile and our portfolio so that we can continue to deliver significant top and bottom line growth. As part of that, we do have the ability to to pull the trigger at the right time. So as an example, we ended last year at 1.8, one point nine times net debt over EBITDA.

By the end of twenty twenty five, you know, based on our guidance, we would expect to be below one times net debt net debt over EBITDA, which basically implies that we do have the ability to take on a new acquisition or a new product, if it makes sense and if it if it meets our criteria. And I think we've talked about, previously that given our, cash generation and given our financial profile, we are comfortable going up to three x net debt over EBITDA if we find the right product. And then, of course, subsequent to that, rapidly paying that down and and and, you know, regaining our our strong capital structure, which is something we're pretty proud of.

Serge Belanger, Health Care Analyst, Needham and Company: Okay. And company has not historically been involved in well, at least not recently in in r and d. Mhmm. Should we expect that to change? I know you kinda mentioned you prefer the commercial asset, but is there appetite to go into late stage development or even, with the phase two asset?

Vikram Karnani, President and CEO, Collegium Pharmaceutical: Look, right now, our BD is primarily focused on commercial stage assets. We do need, more scale, and our expertise and current infrastructures in the commercial space. I think in the longer term, pipeline could make sense in order to create longer term value and longer term longevity, just create longevity. I don't know that we currently, as as things stand today, are in a position to take on any significant capital to take on binary risk from a a large clinical program. I think we look at those opportunities very carefully.

At the end of the day, this is about making sure we're not taking untoward risk. That we if we can find a way to to, you know, create a pipeline or build a pipeline without without minimizing risk, we'll we'll explore that. But I would say at the heart of it all, our focus is on for BDs on commercial stage assets to continue to grow and and build out that, that portfolio.

Serge Belanger, Health Care Analyst, Needham and Company: Okay. And to get the in your opening comments, you talked a little bit about the 2025 guidance. Maybe if you can just outline what you see as the the key growth drivers for for 2025. And maybe afterwards, I'll ask Colleen to just talk about the, I

Vikram Karnani, President and CEO, Collegium Pharmaceutical: guess,

Serge Belanger, Health Care Analyst, Needham and Company: the seasonality or the the variability within quarters that we we should expect for for this year.

Colleen Tupper, CFO, Collegium Pharmaceutical: Sure. I'll jump in on this question in totality search. So our revenue guide for the year is 735 to 750,000,000, which at the midpoint will deliver, 18% growth over 2024. Much of this growth is coming from Jorn APM, which we expect to grow to at least to in excess of a 35,000,000, so delivering at least 35% year over year growth for that asset. Jornay growth will come from a combination of both new prescribers as well as current prescribers expanding usage.

In shifting onto the pain business, we expect that to remain robust and resilient and with revenues growing in the low single digits this year across the portfolio of three products. The pain growth will largely come from better economics rather than prescription growth. As you recall from the third quarter earnings call and then reiterated at year end, we did exit some health plans in 2025. And when we exited those plans, we expected TRX to come under a bit of pressure, but be offset by improved profitability. As you think about the year and the seasonality in the space that we operate, particularly in highly generic spaces.

Revenue has a bit of a disruption in the first quarter as you see with patients having deductible resets that can both have an impact on your demand as well as have a gross to net impact. So we flagged in our fourth quarter call, a year end call, that q one dynamics would be as such and that we would expect a little bit of pressure in q one and then rebound throughout the year. But we're we're feeling very good about the year as we set out and, reiterate our guidance.

Serge Belanger, Health Care Analyst, Needham and Company: Okay. So fourth quarter, typically, the highest revenue number versus the two to three?

Colleen Tupper, CFO, Collegium Pharmaceutical: Broadly, it can vary across the products. More consistently, q one is the lowest.

Serge Belanger, Health Care Analyst, Needham and Company: Got it. Okay.

Colleen Tupper, CFO, Collegium Pharmaceutical: And certainly with Jornet, I'll add on the seasonality there because as an ADHD medicine, you have the back to school dynamics. And so that's where sort of middle of the year, q three, as pay kids are going back to school, has a bit of a demand push, and so you see a bit different seasonality.

Vikram Karnani, President and CEO, Collegium Pharmaceutical: Okay.

Serge Belanger, Health Care Analyst, Needham and Company: So wanted to dig in a little more on JourneyPM. It's the newest asset, and I think people are still in the in the process of learning about it. It is an ADHD product, so maybe just highlight, how it differentiates itself in this in a market that's, I think, become crowded over time, but there's still some interesting branded products within it.

Vikram Karnani, President and CEO, Collegium Pharmaceutical: Yep. So, first of all, thanks for the question about Journee. Journee is a highly differentiated medicine. It is the only delayed and extended release methylphenidate medicine that provides all day ADHD symptom control from awakening in the morning all the way into the evening, and it does this with once daily dosing before bedtime. So if that was a mouthful, but what I was the the important thing to remember here in this particular marketplace for these patients is symptom control upon awakening and symptom control lasting throughout the day.

And because of the unique delayed and extended release formulation with Jornay, we're able to provide both of those benefits to patients in one medicine. It is the number one recognized branded ADHD medication for achieving all day symptom control with one dose, and this is directly from research. And it is the number one recognized branded ADHD medication for controlling after school or after work and evening symptoms. Just to give you a bit of a little bit of background on Jornay, it was launched, by a private company company called, IronShore in the second half of twenty nineteen. So right around the start of the COVID pandemic.

The company restructured in 2021, did a nice job with limited resources, but really couldn't fully maximize the commercial potential of this medicine. What we see is a significant opportunity for Journee, and we're committed to investing in in maximizing its growth. We've identified two main areas to make very targeted investments to impact journey growth in 2025 and frankly further accelerate growth in 2026 and beyond. First is increasing the awareness and adoption with health care professionals. To do this, we recently expanded our sales force from approximately a 25 to 180 reps to ensure that it we have the optimal size to to optimize both reach and frequency to our targeted HCPs.

Secondly, is raising awareness of Journee's unique and differentiated profile among patients and caregivers. Our market research has clearly shown that both patients and caregivers, their requests are the top influencer of HCPs choice of medicines. And patients and caregivers have very limited knowledge of Journee and its differentiated profile today. Our plan is to invest in in targeted digital marketing and social media strategies designed to raise awareness among both patients and caregivers and to motivate them to ask their HCP about journey.

Serge Belanger, Health Care Analyst, Needham and Company: Okay. And I believe the product grew at least on volumes about 30% year over year in the Correct. 2024. That's right. You're expecting something similar for 2025?

Vikram Karnani, President and CEO, Collegium Pharmaceutical: What we have talked about, Serge, is that in our in our guide, we we discussed that, we expect Jornet to grow net revenue to grow in excess of 35% year over year in 2025 over 2024.

Serge Belanger, Health Care Analyst, Needham and Company: Okay. And where is this growth coming from? Is it an expansion of the ADHD market or you're capturing market share and from generics or or other branded products?

Vikram Karnani, President and CEO, Collegium Pharmaceutical: Yeah. I think I mean, the simple answer is both. I think it's important to understand that the ADHD market itself has been growing pretty, at a healthy clip over the last several years. There are about twenty two million patients in The United States living with ADHD, about six and a half million are peds and adolescents, and about fifteen and a half million are adults. And this total market has been growing at about six percent CAGR over the last five years.

This treatment landscape is very geneticized. It's highly geneticized. There are a few branded medicines, but majority of the of the of the prescriptions are genetic prescriptions. About a hundred million prescriptions written in this space in the last twelve months in or at least in 2024, which is about 2,000,000 prescriptions a week. K?

90% of those are stimulants, and about 30% of those stimulants are methylphenidate, the phenylate products. Within the methylphenidate category, you have long acting and short acting, and that long acting methylphenidate category is exactly where Jornay sits. Majority of those prescript of of those medicines are generic. There are some branded, but Jornay is the only one with that unique differentiated profile that I talked about earlier, which allows us to or allows physicians to prescribe the medicine for once daily nighttime dosing and provides that dual benefit of the medicine working upon awakening as well as providing symptom control throughout the day. Our prescriber base is largely pediatricians and psychiatrists.

We targeted about 17,000 prescription oh, sorry, 17,000 prescribers

Serge Belanger, Health Care Analyst, Needham and Company: Mhmm.

Vikram Karnani, President and CEO, Collegium Pharmaceutical: Last year with a 25 representatives. And with the expansion to a 80, we expect to target in excess of 21,000 prescribers. And as a as a reference, more than 20,000 prescribers are responsible for about a third of all prescriptions in this space. So hence, the the optimization so that we can get to the optimal reach and frequency to those high decile prescribers in excess of 21,000.

Serge Belanger, Health Care Analyst, Needham and Company: Got it. And with the the increase the increase in sales force and the expansion of targeting additional physicians here? Are you leaning more towards the pediatricians or the psychiatrists to for for the the next leg of growth here?

Vikram Karnani, President and CEO, Collegium Pharmaceutical: I mean, look, I think it's it's, it's both right there. The Jornay is is is prescribed by both pediatricians as well as as as well as psychiatrists. We broadly look at that as the overall neuropsychiatry landscape, if you will. And we are we were looking at that space as our as our optimal target for business development. So if we can find other assets that fall into that neuropsychiatry bucket, we believe we're really well positioned to take advantage of it, take advantage of our existing infrastructure, leverage it, and drive significant growth.

Serge Belanger, Health Care Analyst, Needham and Company: Okay. And maybe just to wrap up our conversation on Jornay, maybe just highlight the the coverage makeup between commercial and, Medicaid coverage.

Vikram Karnani, President and CEO, Collegium Pharmaceutical: Yeah. About, approximately 65% of our business is commercial and about, 35% is Medicaid. And Journee has a really good, coverage, about 8080% coverage across the entire book of business, from a formal coverage standpoint.

Serge Belanger, Health Care Analyst, Needham and Company: Okay. So not much more improvement to do on the on the coverage front for for this product at

Vikram Karnani, President and CEO, Collegium Pharmaceutical: this point. We continue to work on on on, you know, expanding incremental coverage, you know, on an ongoing basis. Our market access team is pretty active doing that. But, I mean, with 80% coverage across the entire book of business, you know, formulary coverage is is not a barrier to to growth.

Serge Belanger, Health Care Analyst, Needham and Company: Yeah. Okay. And I guess we're we're not yet in in a position to talk about peak sales for this product. I guess, you have a better view of what the the expanded Salesforce can achieve

Vikram Karnani, President and CEO, Collegium Pharmaceutical: Yeah. I

Serge Belanger, Health Care Analyst, Needham and Company: think that Question that'll that'll come back?

Vikram Karnani, President and CEO, Collegium Pharmaceutical: Yeah. I think that's fair. Look, we haven't provided a peak sales estimate at this point in time. Once we have a few more quarters of journey under our ownership, once we and particularly once we see the expansion of or the impact of the Salesforce expansion become a bit more evident, I think we may be in a better position to comment on peak sales. What I will say though is we're very pleased to see the momentum year to date, and that was pre expansion already.

Right? So now that we have the full expanded team out there executing as we speak, we're we're we look forward to providing performance updates as we progress throughout the course of the year.

Serge Belanger, Health Care Analyst, Needham and Company: Okay. So I wanted to jump to the the pain portfolio. Maybe we'll start with Xtampza. Mhmm. Colin, you mentioned that most of the growth will be more economics than than volume driven this year.

Just how should we think about the the growth prospects for for Xtampza going forward? Is it driven by additional formulary coverage or, you know, the overall oxycodone trends remain kind of a a driver or it will really influence where the product ends up?

Colleen Tupper, CFO, Collegium Pharmaceutical: So I would say, I think the overall market, while it will moderate, will continue to decline, and we expect that. So that has tracked in line with our expectations. On the overall pain portfolio, as I noted this year, we expect low single digit growth, which should come largely from profitability improvement. Serge, I would say going forward for Xtampza, in the absence of payer changes, we would expect to be able to grow modestly on prescription growth. This year and in the past as you've seen us execute on our payer strategy to influence gross to nets or improve gross to nets rather, we've had an impact on prescriptions.

Absent those changes, we do still believe there is room for Xtampza to grow, given their significant share that it continues is able to continue to take. Okay. And beyond that, I think I mentioned the opioid market. I yeah. I guess the last thing I'd say there is that ample market opportunity, I think, exists for both Xtampza and BELBUCA as those are really taking share from others and not really impacted by the overall size of the market.

Serge Belanger, Health Care Analyst, Needham and Company: Yeah. And, like, my like others, we we track IQVIA scripts. I think for the first quarter, they were down about double digits, which I think was expected given that one of the new plans doesn't report IQVIA. So do you have any color on what the actual, you know, trend really is if we were to include that that player?

Colleen Tupper, CFO, Collegium Pharmaceutical: I would say in first quarter, what we've seen for prescription data thus far is in line with our expectations. What you're speaking to is in the payer update on the third quarter call. We mentioned, as I said previously, a loss of a Part d plan for both Xtampza and BELBUCA, but we also had the gain of an integrated health system for both Xtampza and BELBUCA, and that, health system acquires product directly and does not report prescriptions to IQVIA. So bottom line is on in line with our expectations thus far.

Serge Belanger, Health Care Analyst, Needham and Company: And then any updates on, the LOE for for Xtampza, if anything has changed, or what we should be watching for?

Colleen Tupper, CFO, Collegium Pharmaceutical: Yeah. No, Tae. So let me start with an overarching comment covering our entire pain franchise. So Nucynta, BELBUCA, and Xtampza, is that there is no party across all of those products that has the necessary combination of ingredients to launch a product. There were three things required, the regulatory clearance, legal clearance, and the ability to supply or have manufacturing capability.

And across our entire pain portfolio, there is not one entity that has checked all those boxes for a product. That said, as as you recall, for Xtampza, it's pretty long lived. We have one ANDA filer to date. That was Teva, and we've settled for September of twenty thirty three. It still remains unclear to us whether launching a generic opioid is fits within Teva's current strategy, but for Xtampza, September third twenty thirty three.

Serge Belanger, Health Care Analyst, Needham and Company: Okay. And one of the questions we get from investors related to Xtampza is the the potential for a generic oxycontin product. Just curious if there's been any developments or, you know, what are your expect expectations for for the potential of such a generic?

Colleen Tupper, CFO, Collegium Pharmaceutical: We have not seen anything in the marketplace that suggests one is imminent. As you know, with it being a private entity, we don't none of us have full visibility. To date, there has been no FDA approval and of abuse deterrent long acting. So perhaps that's the barrier, but we have not seen anything in the marketplace.

Serge Belanger, Health Care Analyst, Needham and Company: Okay. And then on on BELBUCA, I think that's a product where you're you are expecting a little more volume growth from. It has shown some growth in the last couple years. So maybe just highlight how that, you know, the market opportunity differs from Xtampza and how it target you know, who they target, what BELBUCA targets versus Xtampza, and why there's growth potential.

Colleen Tupper, CFO, Collegium Pharmaceutical: That's right. With BELBUCA, it's the only long acting opioid medicine that uses the bup buprenorphine buccal film technology. We have seen, and as you saw in 2024, with 5.6% prescription growth and an acceleration in the fourth quarter and specifically in December, that that product does still have growth potential in it. And we believe it should be the first line therapy when a physician is making the choice to use a long acting opioid as a schedule three product. We believe it's a great first choice.

So as you as you've heard with low digit, revenue growth expected this year, that will be predominantly profitability due to the payer change noted, but BELBUCA does have the ability to stabilize and come out of that growth at a more accelerated pace.

Serge Belanger, Health Care Analyst, Needham and Company: Okay. And on the the formulary coverage there, I think Medicare Part d was one area where the Collegium team was focused on continuing to grow. Is that should we expect additional expansion of the coverage on that front going forward?

Colleen Tupper, CFO, Collegium Pharmaceutical: Perhaps. We continue to look to expand coverage when appropriate at the right metrics, at the right economics. What I will see is our our team, even with limited part d coverage, our team has been very successful at pushing through and gaining access in that space without contracting.

Serge Belanger, Health Care Analyst, Needham and Company: Okay. So gross to net should remain stable here for for Belbuca? And They're

Colleen Tupper, CFO, Collegium Pharmaceutical: not stable. That's right.

Serge Belanger, Health Care Analyst, Needham and Company: Okay. And then lastly, the Nucynta, kind of a the more mature product of the, of the pain portfolio, but I think you've done a good, great work on the LOE front here. Just I guess, just an overview of where that product is and what we should be looking for.

Colleen Tupper, CFO, Collegium Pharmaceutical: That's right. So that is a a mature product. Really, since it's been in our hands when we outright acquired it in 2020, our goal had been stable revenues, which has been comprised of to date of declining volumes and improved profitability. So that is about what we expect. Continuing forward, it's been a highly profitable product in our portfolio and, in fact, has had LOE extension that is put about two additional years.

The Nucynta ER LOE has recently been extended to July 2027, and the IR LOE was extended to January 2027. With that said, this is another one where it's unclear to us if Teva will actually launch a generic Nucynta. And broadly across the Nucynta franchise, there was a handful, you know, low to mid single digit number of parties that could launch at various times between 2027 and 2028, none of which have access to tapentadol in The US as far as we can see in the supply chain.

Serge Belanger, Health Care Analyst, Needham and Company: Okay. And maybe can you just talk a little bit more about what would be the process to access tapentadol and, you know, there's anything to look out for to see if somebody would be ready to to launch on on the Cinta.

Colleen Tupper, CFO, Collegium Pharmaceutical: What's unique here is tapentadol is only used in the new Cinta products. And so in The United States, there are four DMFs that have been approved. Only one is approved at commercial scale, and that is our exclusive supplier. The other three remain at comer clinical slash pilot scale, and it certainly could be ramped up. We estimate that to be two two plus years process as well as investment just north of $10,000,000.

And to our understanding as we're always looking to secure supply and have dual source, that there's no, facility that has begun that work

Vikram Karnani, President and CEO, Collegium Pharmaceutical: Okay.

Colleen Tupper, CFO, Collegium Pharmaceutical: For commercial scale.

Serge Belanger, Health Care Analyst, Needham and Company: Maybe just to wrap up our conversation on the the paying portfolio, where does the size of the Salesforce stand for that is behind the pain portfolio at this point, and should we expect it to remain stable?

Colleen Tupper, CFO, Collegium Pharmaceutical: 95 territories. We think that's the right size for the portfolio as it stands today. Given the uncertainty around LOEs, particularly on Teva where I'm sorry, on Belbuca, I would expect that that remains the same until we see something play out there.

Serge Belanger, Health Care Analyst, Needham and Company: Okay. And then on on the financial side, we've talked a little bit where the debt level is and where you expect it to be by the end of this year. Just curious about the capital allocation priorities of the company. I know you've been active in returning capital to shareholders over time. With BD still a focus, you know, how does that change those capital allocation priorities going forward?

Vikram Karnani, President and CEO, Collegium Pharmaceutical: Yeah. I think so it's a great question. I think our priority for capital allocation remains the same. It's to expand our portfolio through disciplined business development. You know, we look to rapidly pay down our debt and opportunistically repurchasing shares.

It's as you know, this is a balancing act, we regularly review all of our options with the board and and act accordingly. So you should expect that we will we will continue to, you know, make the best choice when it comes to capital allocation based on the choices that I just described.

Serge Belanger, Health Care Analyst, Needham and Company: Okay. And maybe if you just highlight if I think you've I think you've been at the company for about six months now or getting close to to that number.

Vikram Karnani, President and CEO, Collegium Pharmaceutical: Getting close

Serge Belanger, Health Care Analyst, Needham and Company: to that number. So maybe if you can highlight, you know, based on your conversations with investors and as you get more familiar with the story, what you think is either poorly understood or, underappreciated by investors about the the portfolio and the company?

Vikram Karnani, President and CEO, Collegium Pharmaceutical: Well, I think, first of all, it's, I'm I'm thrilled to have have joined the company, and and so it's a mission focused, mission centric company, great group of of of of employees and and really committed to the cause. You know, our pain business remains very important to us. We we do view Collegium as evolving to a company that is more than the leader in responsible pain management. Those are our roots, we will continue to make sure that we serve that business and those patients well. But as you saw, we took our first step of the diversification with the iron ore acquisition last year.

The addition of Jorn APM into the portfolio has been a terrific one. And as we just talked about the expectations from that business. We're well on our way to becoming a diversified growing biopharmaceutical company. So I I think that, you know, I would ask current and future investors to keep an eye on us. We are a growth driven, diversifying biopharmaceutical company that is generating significant earnings and cash.

And our capital allocation priorities will be targeted at making sure we continue to drive both top line growth and bottom line growth through disciplined capital allocation.

Serge Belanger, Health Care Analyst, Needham and Company: K. Alright. Well, I think that's a good place to to end here. So wanna thank you both for spending time with us and, telling us more about Collegium Pharmaceutical. Appreciate your participation.

Vikram Karnani, President and CEO, Collegium Pharmaceutical: Thanks for having us.

Colleen Tupper, CFO, Collegium Pharmaceutical: Thank you, Serge.

Serge Belanger, Health Care Analyst, Needham and Company: Thank you.

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