Cyberonics Inc. Reports Operating Results (10-K)

Cyberonics Inc. (CYBX) filed Annual Report for the period ended 2010-04-30.

Cyberonics Inc. has a market cap of $659.2 million; its shares were traded at around $23.73 with a P/E ratio of 19.6 and P/S ratio of 3.9. CYBX is in the portfolios of Carl Icahn of Icahn Capital Management LP, Jim Simons of Renaissance Technologies LLC, Paul Tudor Jones of The Tudor Group.

Highlight of Business Operations:

Epilepsy is a disorder of the brain characterized by recurrent seizures that are categorized as either partial or generalized at onset. Patients who continue to have unsatisfactory seizure control or intolerable side effects after treatment with appropriate antiepileptic therapies for a reasonable period of time are said to suffer from refractory epilepsy. For reasons that are not clear, partial onset seizures are generally more refractory to existing therapies than generalized seizures. Epilepsy is the second most prevalent neurological disorder in the world. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and the National Epilepsy Foundation, between 2.5 and 3.0 million individuals in the U.S. have some form of epilepsy, with between 150,000 and 200,000 new cases diagnosed each year. We estimate, based on a World Health Organization study on epilepsy, that there are in excess of 3.0 million individuals with epilepsy in Western Europe with over 150,000 new cases diagnosed each year; in Japan, these number are one million and 50,000, respectively. In addition, it is estimated that approximately 50% of patients with epilepsy suffer from partial onset seizures, and over 30% of these patients continue to suffer from seizures in spite of treatment with antiepileptic drugs. There are at least four types of treatment available to persons with epilepsy: antiepileptic drug therapy, use of a ketogenic diet, VNS Therapy and surgery. Antiepileptic drugs serve as a first-line treatment and are prescribed for virtually all individuals being treated for epilepsy. When drug therapy is not effective, VNS Therapy may be considered. Surgery may also be an option for some patients. There are two investigational devices under development for the treatment of epilepsy, both involving the placement of stimulation electrodes in a patient s brain: Medtronic, Inc. s Activa® Neurostimulator for deep brain stimulation (“DBS”) and NeuroPace, Inc. s Responsive Neurostimulator System (“RNStm”). These treatments are not currently approved for commercial U.S. distribution; however, in March 2010, an FDA advisory panel voted 7-5 in favor of recommending that the FDA approve Medtronic s DBS.

The VNS Therapy System is indicated as an adjunctive treatment for patients who are refractory to antiepileptic drugs. In the two randomized, parallel, double-blind, active-controlled studies that led to FDA approval of our epilepsy indication, the patients who received adjunctive VNS Therapy had a mean seizure reduction of approximately 24% and 28% during the three-month acute phase of the studies. Additionally, many patients, including some who reported no change or an increase in seizure frequency, also reported a reduction in seizure severity. Long-term follow-up data derived from an uncontrolled protocol on the 440 patients in five studies showed that efficacy was maintained and, for many patients, improved over time during treatment with the VNS Therapy System. Analysis of the pooled data showed that the median percentage seizure reduction was 44% after 24 months of treatment and was sustained at that level at 36 months. A study by physicians at New York University and published in 2009 involving 507 patients with refractory epilepsy treated with VNS Therapy reported that 66.7% of patients experienced at least a 50% reduction in seizure frequency. Our analysis of an internal database of patients who received an implant of VNS Therapy including the first model of our generator (the Model 100) indicates that over 70% have chosen to continue with VNS Therapy when the generator battery is depleted, generally 5 to 6 years after initial implant. In the treatment of refractory epilepsy, the side effects associated with the VNS Therapy System are generally mild, localized and related to the period of time in which stimulation is activated. Typical side effects include voice alteration, neck discomfort, increased cough, shortness of breath and difficulty swallowing. The VNS Therapy System has not typically been associated with the debilitating central nervous system side effects that frequently accompany antiepileptic drugs. Additionally, side effects of VNS Therapy typically decrease over time. To date, an estimated 63,000 patients worldwide have been treated with the VNS Therapy System for epilepsy.

The VNS Therapy System is indicated as an adjunctive treatment for patients 18 years of age or older who are experiencing a major depressive episode and have not had an adequate response to four or more adequate antidepressant treatments. In Canada and the European Union, VNS Therapy is indicated for the treatment of chronic or recurrent depression in patients who are in a treatment-resistant or treatment-intolerant major depressive episode. VNS Therapy was generally well tolerated in the depression clinical studies. In the double-blind, randomized, parallel-group sham treatment-controlled, multi-center study that led to FDA approval of our depression indication, the patients who received adjunctive VNS Therapy had a response rate (as measured by HRSD24) of 15% during the twelve week acute phase of the studies and a 30% response rate during the 12-month long-term phase of the study. The most commonly reported adverse events were similar to those observed in patients being treated with VNS Therapy for epilepsy. These side effects tended to occur during stimulation, tended to be reported as mild or moderate and tended to be reported less frequently over time. To date, an estimated 3,600 patients worldwide have been treated with the VNS Therapy System for depression.

Read the The complete Report

About the author:

Currently 1.50/5 1 2 3 4 5 Rating: 1.5/5 (2 votes)