scPharmaceuticals Provides FUROSCIX® (furosemide injection) Commercial Update
Commercial launch planned for February 20, 2023
BURLINGTON, Mass., Jan. 30, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — scPharmaceuticals Inc. (Nasdaq: SCPH), a pharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing products that have the potential to optimize therapies, advance patient care, and reduce healthcare costs, today announced that the company is targeting February 20, 2023 as the date for commercial availability of FUROSCIX® (furosemide injection), a proprietary formulation of furosemide delivered via an On-Body Infusor for outpatient treatment of congestion due to fluid overload in adult patients with New York Heart Association (NYHA) Class II and Class III chronic heart failure. FUROSCIX is not indicated for emergency situations or in patients with acute pulmonary edema. FUROSCIX Infusor will deliver only an 80-mg dose.
“Since obtaining FDA approval for FUROSCIX in October 2022, we have been working tirelessly to prepare for a robust commercial launch, which is targeted for February 20th,” stated John Tucker, Chief Executive Officer. “We have assembled a world class commercial team, including the recent promotion of Steve Parsons to SVP of Commercial, and we believe we have built sufficient inventory for anticipated launch and ongoing demand.”
“We anticipate that all Medicare Part D and Medicaid beneficiaries will have reimbursed access to FUROSCIX on day one and that approximately 60% of all heart failure patients will have fixed tier co-pays (≤ $100) at launch and we continue working hard to expand this to greater than 75% fixed tier co-pays. Discussions with payers regarding coverage expansion are ongoing and productive. All in all, I am very pleased with our progress, and look forward to what I expect will be a very successful launch,” Mr. Tucker added.
“Since FDA approval, we have engaged in a broad market awareness campaign to introduce FUROSCIX as a new treatment option for heart failure patients pre- or post-hospital admission,” stated Steve Parsons, Senior Vice President of Commercial. “There is a clear need for a better way to manage heart failure patients, and a significant opportunity to reduce unnecessary hospital admissions, and I believe FUROSCIX addresses this need. I look forward to working to make FUROSCIX broadly available to all heart failure patients with congestion and their treating physicians.”
Management plans to provide a detailed update on the launch and other developments during its regularly scheduled fourth quarter 2022 earnings conference call and webcast in March.
INDICATIONS AND LIMITATIONS OF USE
FUROSCIX® is indicated for the treatment of congestion due to fluid overload in adult patients with New York Heart Association (NYHA) Class II and Class III chronic heart failure.
FUROSCIX is not indicated for use in emergency situations or in patients with acute pulmonary edema. FUROSCIX Infusor will deliver only an 80-mg dose.
IMPORTANT SAFETY INFORMATION
FUROSCIX is contraindicated in patients with anuria, patients with a history of hypersensitivity to furosemide or medical adhesives and in patients with hepatic cirrhosis or ascites.
Furosemide may cause fluid, electrolyte, and metabolic abnormalities, particularly in patients receiving higher doses, patients with inadequate oral electrolyte intake, and in elderly patients. Serum electrolytes, CO2, BUN, creatinine, glucose, and uric acid should be monitored frequently during furosemide therapy.
Excessive diuresis may cause dehydration and blood volume reduction with circulatory collapse and possibly vascular thrombosis and embolism, particularly in elderly patients.
In patients with hepatic cirrhosis and ascites, sudden alterations of fluid and electrolyte balance may precipitate hepatic encephalopathy and coma. Treatment in such patients is best initiated in the hospital.
Furosemide can cause dehydration and azotemia. If increasing azotemia and oliguria occur during treatment of severe progressive renal disease, furosemide should be discontinued.
Cases of tinnitus and reversible or irreversible hearing impairment and deafness have been reported with furosemide. Reports usually indicate that furosemide ototoxicity is associated with rapid injection, severe renal impairment, the use of higher than recommended doses, hypoproteinemia or concomitant therapy with aminoglycoside antibiotics, ethacrynic acid, or other ototoxic drugs.
In patients with severe symptoms of urinary retention (because of bladder emptying disorders, prostatic hyperplasia, urethral narrowing), the administration of furosemide can cause acute urinary retention related to increased production and retention of urine. These patients require careful monitoring, especially during the initial stages of treatment.
The most common adverse reactions with FUROSCIX administration in clinical trials were site and skin reactions including erythema, bruising, edema, and injection site pain.
For more details, please read the full prescribing information at FUROSCIX.com/prescribing-information.pdf and Instructions for Use at FUROSCIX.com/instructions-for-use.pdf.
About scPharmaceuticals
scPharmaceuticals is a pharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing products that are designed to reduce healthcare costs and improve health outcomes. The Company develops, internally and through strategic partnerships, innovative products and solutions that aim to expand and advance the outpatient care of select acute conditions. The Company’s lead programs focus on the subcutaneous, self-administration of IV-strength treatments in heart failure and infectious disease. scPharmaceuticals is headquartered in Burlington, MA. For more information, please visit www.scPharmaceuticals.com.
Forward-Looking Statement
This press release contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements contained in this press release that do not relate to matters of historical fact should be considered forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, statements regarding the potential market impact of FUROSCIX, the preparation for and timing of the planned commercial launch of FUROSCIX and the success of such commercialization and the potential benefits, expected costs, future plans and expectations and anticipated coverage and reimbursement for FUROSCIX. Any forward-looking statements in this press release are based on management’s current expectations of future events and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially and adversely from those set forth in or implied by such forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the risk of any unforeseen delays or setbacks in the planned commercial launch of FUROSCIX, the risk that results of a clinical study do not necessarily predict final results and that one or more of the clinical outcomes may materially change following more comprehensive reviews of the data, and as more patient data become available, the risk that results of a clinical study are subject to interpretation and additional analyses may be needed and/or may contradict such results, the risk of the ability of the FUROSCIX On-Body Infusor to appropriately deliver therapy, the receipt of regulatory approval for any of our product candidates or, if approved, the successful commercialization of such products, the risk of cessation or delay of any of the ongoing or planned clinical trials and/or our development of our product candidates, the risk that the results of previously conducted studies will not be repeated or observed in ongoing or future studies involving our product candidates, risks related to manufacturing and quality assurances processes, and the risk that the current COVID-19 pandemic will impact the Company’s device validation, drug stability testing, and other operations. For a discussion of these and other risks and uncertainties, and other important factors, any of which could cause our actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements, see the sections entitled “Risk Factors” in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2021 and the Company’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2022 on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission, available at the Securities and Exchange Commission’s website at www.sec.gov, as well as discussions of potential risks, uncertainties and other important factors in the Company’s subsequent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. All information in this press release is as of the date of the release, and the Company undertakes no duty to update this information unless required by law.
Katherine Taudvin
scPharmaceuticals Inc., 781-301-6706
ktaudvin@scpharma.com
Investors:
Hans Vitzthum
LifeSci Advisors, 617-430-7578
hans@lifesciadvisors.com
