Botanix has surged its way into the S&P/ASX 300. Pic: Getty Images.
Health & Biotech
Special Report: With Botanix Pharmaceuticals’ share price more than doubling over the past 12 months, the $770 million market cap stock will be elevated into the S&P/ASX300 index from March 24, 2025 as it aims to become a major global dermatology player.
Botanix Pharmaceuticals (ASX:BOT) gained approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its Sofdra gel in June 2024 to treat primary axillary hyperhidrosis (PAH), more commonly known as excessive underarm sweating.
“It’s a great honour and validation to join this league and a validation of the work that we’ve done and of our growth as a company,” CEO Dr Howie McKibbon said.
“We’ll continue to focus on building Botanix [to become] the world’s largest and most innovative dermatology company.”
Sofdra is the first and only chemical entity approved to treat PAH by the FDA and addresses a significant medical need, with ~10 million people in the US suffering the condition, which currently has limited effective treatment options.
The approval of Sofdra was supported by compelling data from two pivotal phase III studies involving 701 patients with PAH.
The company undertook a soft launch of Sofdra in the US in December 2024 and have now kicked off the full launch, which Dr McKibbon noted was tracking well.
“We’ve been working on this for years now. More than two years ago we engaged the payer organisations and we have [now] finalised all of the contracts, so we are now being reimbursed for prescriptions being written by dermatologists for Sofdra,” he said.
Dr McKibbon said at the end of January the company held its first national sales meeting in the Phoenix, Arizona, where sales representatives were educated on Sofdra’s features and benefits – both for patients and their treating physicians.
“For the past four weeks we’ve been watching the growth and trajectory of the product, and we’re excited [with what we’ve seen] so far.”
The next big phase of the Sofdra launch involves the rollout of its digital plan this month, which McKibbon said represented a great opportunity for positive revenue growth.
He said of the 10 million patients in the US with PAH, only 3.7 million seek help by a physician.
“Now that leaves 6.3 million patients who are not [actively receiving treatment] and the vast majority of those patients have already been diagnosed in the past … and certainly all of them know that it is something impacting their lives,” he explained.
“Now, those individuals are a bit of a recluse population, they’ve learned to cope and buy extra shirts, black T-shirts, underarm cups and avoid certain situations and it’s quite sad.”
However, McKibbon emphasised Botanix research shows that putting digital content in front of this untreated patient population is very effective.
“Once they’ve engaged in that content, they now have the ability to see a telemedicine provider immediately so that, if appropriate, they can be prescribed Sofdra and then they go through our platform to receive the product and refills.”
“So, with regard to the impact, we’re very excited to see what that conversion rate’s going to be,” McKibbon added.
“When you think of a patient then potentially getting 12 total fills per year, it’s quite a big opportunity.”
McKibbon said Botanix was happy with the refill or ‘repeat’ rate on its platform so far, which is ensuring continuity of care for patients.
“Whether they come in through telemedicine or through a physician, they all come into the same place… and once they get to that platform, we ensure that their refill each month is mailed to their home at a $0 copay or a $0 gap payment.”
McKibbon noted that the no-cost option can change the average fill rate or average prescription per patient from about 1.8 fills per patient per year, which is typical in dermatology in the US, to upwards of seven to 12 fills per year per patient.
“When you take a step back [and see] how important that is for a forecast, you could either get 12 patients to get one prescription or one patient to get 12 prescriptions,” he said.
“And once you’re in that position for one patient to get 12 prescriptions, you optimise your opportunity for growth in the future.”
This article was developed in collaboration with Botanix Pharmaceuticals, a Stockhead advertiser at the time of publishing.
This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.
Health & Biotech
Health & Biotech
Health & Biotech
