Stockholm Company Sensidose has developed a treatment principle for individualized and precise dosing of levodopa for the treatment of Parkinson's disease. By dosing a specific number of the company's microtablets, Flexilife, treatment can be optimized and customized for each patient.
The tablets are dosed with the dosing machine. MyFID which helps the patient get the exact dose at the right time. Flexilev is currently subsidized for patients with Parkinson's disease in the failure phase as an alternative to surgery and other advanced invasive therapies.
Patient trials of OraFID during Q4
In addition, the company is developing OraFID– a new and mechanical dosing device that further simplifies treatment. According to the Q3 report, the development of OraFIDi is proceeding largely according to schedule. The company has a working prototype and plans to conduct patient tests in the fourth quarter. At the same time, evaluations are being carried out regarding the production and regulatory plan.
Sensidose reports Q3
Sensidose's recently released Q3 report shows lower sales in the third quarter compared to the same period in 2021. However, viewed over January-September 2022, sales have increased by 9,7 percent compared to the same period in 2021. The company's cash at the end of Q3 was SEK 17,7 million. The sales loss in the third quarter is due to according to the company's CEO Jack Spira on two factors:
"Partly, the third quarter of 2021 was an unusually strong quarter, but mainly we are now seeing the effect that due to the production situation regarding MyFID, we have not been able to deliver dosing machines to new patients waiting to start their treatment in Sweden and Denmark. These two factors caused sales in these countries to decrease in the third quarter of 2022 compared to 2021."
Higher sales expected
The production difficulties have been due to the lack of critical components for the MyFID device. Sensidose has addressed the shortage by replacing with equivalent components and implementing software changes..
The changes have now been implemented, meaning production can begin. The company expects to be able to deliver devices without delays in Q4, with sales expected to turn around again in Q1 2023.
Newly appointed Vice President participated in large congress
During the quarter was recruited Philip Slätis to COO and VP. Jack Spira commented on the strengthening of the organization in the Q3 report:
"We are of course pleased that we were able to strengthen the organization with our new employee Philip Slätis. With his solid background and long experience in the industry, this is a significant addition to our capabilities in several areas, including marketing, expansion in existing markets and business development for new markets and products with our technology."
Philip Slätis took office on November 1 and kicked off his new role by participating in CHPI in Frankfurt – an important partnering conference for in- and out-licensing of products within the pharmaceutical industry in Europe. According to the company, several very productive meetings were held that created a good foundation for the market expansion with Flexilev and MyFID.
Market expansion to Poland and Finland
Flexilev is currently sold in Scandinavia and is planned to be launched in additional markets, with an initial focus on Finland and Poland. Sensidose's price application in Finland is being processed by the Finnish Price Authority and the company expects a decision in early 2023. Work to develop a price application in Poland is ongoing, but is taking longer than expected as the Polish price application system is more extensive.
Ahead of the planned market launch in Poland, the company is working to increase its presence in the country, including through participation in the Polish Neurological Society Scientific and Educational Conference in Lublin on September 14-17.
The company has also initiated discussions with new partners in Norway following the sudden death of Sensidose's agent in the country.
CEO comments on the third quarter and looks ahead
BioStock contacted Sensidose CEO Jack Spira for comment on third quarter activities and expansion plans into new markets.
Jack, what has been your main focus in the third quarter of 2022?
– The focus is unchanged compared to previous quarters, i.e. to advance our positions in all prioritized areas. This applies to expansion in existing markets, expansion in new markets and continued product development regarding OraFID.
Sales in the third quarter were down due to component shortages, but you now seem to have resolved the problem with new components and a reprogramming of MyFID. How is this expected to affect sales?
– It is very pleasing that we can now start production and thus market MyFID and Flexilev in a completely different way. It feels incredibly good to be able to give patients access to our treatment option. However, starting new patients takes some time and must be carefully planned by the healthcare system. It is important that patients feel safe and cared for when switching medications. We have a queue of patients waiting to start their treatment and we expect a positive impact on sales gradually over the coming months. We also expect that the fact that the patient queue is decreasing will mean that prescribing will increase among treating neurologists.
»It is very pleasing that we can now start production and thus market MyFID and Flexilev in a completely different way […] We have a queue of patients waiting to start their treatment and we expect a positive impact on sales gradually over the coming months.«
What other activities are you working on to increase sales?
– At the moment it is classic marketing within the industry, including via our patient information page Failure phase.seOur new employee Philip Slätis will lead the work to develop a new marketing plan and I am convinced that with his help we will get new ideas and other ways to get our message across.
At the end of the quarter, you had cash of approximately SEK 17,7 million. What does the financial planning look like going forward?
– Our goal is to become cash flow positive within the framework of the cash we have. Since we now do not need to invest more in upgrading MyFID, but only in OraFID development, things look brighter for 2023. Provided that we quickly get the new MyFIDs on the market, I am positive about our liquidity situation.
