EMERYVILLE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--NovaBay® Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NYSE American: NBY), a biopharmaceutical company focusing on commercializing prescription Avenova® for the domestic eye care market, announces it has completed the most recent planned expansion of its salesforce by hiring of 7 sales representatives. The Company now has a commercial salesforce of 45 representatives as the Company pursues profitable growth.
“We are very encouraged by the high quality of our new hires, all of whom have significant experience in promoting prescription ophthalmic products,” said Mark M. Sieczkarek, NovaBay’s Chairman, President and CEO. “Our new sales representatives are being deployed in what we believe to be under-served territories and will target high Avenova prescribers with the goal of increasing the number of prescriptions per physician. We are working in parallel to secure new or enhanced health plan insurance coverage, which we expect to improve revenue per unit and the number of units covered by commercial insurance. We plan to hire an additional 10 to 15 sales representatives this year, anticipating that new sales representatives typically require about six months to make meaningful contributions to Avenova sales.
“Reflecting the size and composition of our current salesforce, as well as future hiring plans, we expect net sales for the second quarter of 2018 to approximate the first quarter. We also expect net sales to increase sequentially in each successive quarter through the remainder of 2018. We expect gross margin on Avenova sales to be in the 90% range for the full year 2018,” he added.
“We are optimistic about returning to strong double-digit net sales growth in 2019 as we continue our salesforce expansion, our new sales representatives gain tenure, and prescription reimbursement and coverage improve,” said Sieczkarek. “We see a tremendous opportunity with Avenova for our Company and our shareholders given the large, untapped opportunity for bacterial dry eye, which represents about 85% of the total dry eye market. Importantly, Avenova is the only non-antibiotic commercial product that has clinical data proven to treat the underlying cause of bacterial dry eye. Unlike traditional antibiotics, Avenova is safe for chronic use because it does not give rise to bacterial resistance.”
NovaBay expects to report financial results for the second quarter of 2018 and to hold an investment community conference call in August 2018.
About Avenova
Avenova is an eye care product formulated with NovaBay’s proprietary, stable and pure form of hypochlorous acid. It has proven in laboratory testing to have broad antimicrobial properties as a preservative in solution as it removes foreign material including microorganisms and debris from the skin on the eyelids and lashes without burning or stinging. Data from a multicenter clinical study show that Avenova reduced bacterial load, the underlying cause of blepharitis, on ocular skin surface by more than 90%. Laboratory tests show that hypochlorous acid has potent antimicrobial activity in solution yet is non-toxic to mammalian cells and also neutralizes bacterial toxins. Avenova is marketed to optometrists and ophthalmologists throughout the U.S. by NovaBay’s direct salesforce. It is accessible from more than 90% of retail pharmacies in the U.S. through agreements with McKesson Corporation, Cardinal Health and AmeriSource Bergen.
About NovaBay Pharmaceuticals, Inc.: Going Beyond Antibiotics®
NovaBay Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is a biopharmaceutical company focused on commercializing and developing its non-antibiotic anti-infective products to address the unmet therapeutic needs of the global, topical anti-infective market with its two distinct product categories: the NEUTROX® family of products and the AGANOCIDE® compounds. The Neutrox family of products includes AVENOVA® for the eye care market, NEUTROPHASE® for the wound care market and CELLERX® for the aesthetic dermatology market. The Aganocide compounds, still under development, have target applications in dermatology and urology.
Forward-Looking Statements
This release contains forward-looking statements that are based upon management’s current expectations, assumptions, estimates, projections and beliefs. Forward-looking statements include statements regarding, among other things, our current expectations about the Company's future results, financial condition, goals, strategies, revenue, earnings, free cash flow, margins, prospects and/or outlook and are indicated by words or phrases such as “plan,” "expect," “anticipate,” and variations of those words or phrases. These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results or achievements to be materially different and adverse from those expressed in or implied by the forward-looking statements. Factors that might cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to, risks and uncertainties relating to difficulties or delays in manufacturing, distributing, and obtaining insurance reimbursement for the Company’s products, the uncertainty of patent protection for the Company’s intellectual property, and any potential regulatory problems. Other risks relating to NovaBay’s business, including risks that could cause results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements in this press release, are detailed in NovaBay’s latest Form 10-K and Form 10-Q filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, especially under the heading “Risk Factors.” The forward-looking statements in this release speak only as of this date, and NovaBay disclaims any intent or obligation to revise or update publicly any forward-looking statement except as required by law.
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NovaBay Contacts
For NovaBay Avenova purchasing information:
Please
Call us toll free: 1-800-890-0329 or email sales@avenova.com.
www.Avenova.com
