Heron Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:HRTX) Q1 2022 Results Conference Call May 9, 2022 4:30 PM ET

Company Participants

David Szekeres - EVP and COO

Barry Quart - Chairman and CEO

John Poyhonen - President and Chief Commercial Officer

Kimberly Manhard - EVP, Drug Development and Board Director

Conference Call Participants

Brandon Folkes - Cantor Fitzgerald

Josh Schimmer - Evercore ISI

Serge Belanger - Needham and Company

Boris Peaker - Cowen

Kelly Shi - Jefferies

Operator

Good day, ladies and gentlemen, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to the Heron Therapeutics First Quarter 2022 Earnings Conference. As a reminder, this conference is being recorded.

Now, I would like to turn the call over to David Szekeres, Executive Vice President, Chief Operating Officer. Please proceed.

David Szekeres

Thank you, Jason. Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for joining us.

With me today from Heron are Barry Quart, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman; John Poyhonen, President and Chief Commercial Officer; and Kimberly Manhard, Executive Vice President of Drug Development and Board Director.

For those of you participating via conference call, the slides are made available via webcast and can also be accessed by going to the Investor Relations page of our website, following conclusion of today’s call.

Before we begin, I would like to remind you that this call will contain forward-looking statements concerning Heron’s future expectations, plans, prospects, corporate strategy and performance, which constitute forward-looking statements for the purposes of the safe harbor provision under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Actual results may differ materially from those indicated by these forward-looking statements, as a result of various important factors, including those discussed in our filings with the SEC.

In addition, any forward-looking statements represent our views only as of the date of this webcast and should not be relied upon as representing our views as of any subsequent date. We specifically disclaim any obligations to update such statements.

Now, I’ll turn the call over to Barry.

Barry Quart

Thank you, David. Welcome, everyone, and thank you for joining us.

First quarter was a major turning point for the commercialization of ZYNRELEF with the official rollout of expanded indications obtained mid-December. You will hear from John that we are now reaching critical mass in terms of ordering accounts with a 68% increase in unit demand in first quarter compared to fourth quarter. This has allowed us to make significant progress in reducing the excess inventory at distribution centers. So, next quarter, you should see dollar sales of 400-milligram vials match demand. With continued increases in ordering accounts, formulary approvals, and pass-through status, and multiple IDNs moving towards therapeutic interchange with ZYNRELEF, we anticipate seeing similar to greater quarter-over-quarter increases in coming quarters.