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Intercept Pharmaceuticals Inc (ICPT)
Q2Â 2020 Earnings Call
Aug 10, 2020, 8:30 a.m. ET
Contents:
- Prepared Remarks
- Questions and Answers
- Call Participants
Prepared Remarks:
Operator
Good day, ladies and gentlemen, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to the Second Quarter 2020 Intercept Pharmaceuticals Earnings Conference Call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. After the speakers' remarks, there will be a question-and-answer session. [Operator Instructions] At this time, I would like to turn the conference over to Ms. Lisa DeFrancesco. Ma'am you may begin.
Lisa DeFrancesco -- Head of Investor Relations
Thank you. Good morning, and thank you for joining us on today's call. This morning, we issued a press release announcing our second quarter 2020 results and financial position and also posted accompanying slides, which are available on our website at www.interceptpharma.com.
Before we begin our discussion, I'd like to note that during our call, we will be making forward-looking statements, including statements regarding our approved products and clinical development program, certain regulatory matters, including the potential approval of OCA for liver fibrosis due to NASH, and our strategy, prospects, financial guidance and future commercial and financial performance.
Listeners are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this call, and we undertake no obligation to update such statements except as required by law. These forward-looking statements are based on estimates and assumptions that, although believed to be reasonable, are inherently uncertain, subject to a number of risks and uncertainties. Some but not necessarily all of the risk factors that could cause our actual results to differ materially from our historical results or those anticipated or predicted by our forward-looking statements are discussed in this morning's press release and in our periodic public filings with the SEC.
Today's call will begin with prepared remarks from our CEO, Dr. Mark Pruzanski, followed by those from our Chief Operating Officer, Jerry Durso; and our Chief Financial Officer, Sandip Kapadia. We'll then open the call to take your questions. Please limit yourself to one initial question in order to allow time for all questions to be addressed.
Let me now turn the call over to our CEO, Dr. Mark Pruzanski.
Mark Pruzanski -- President, Chief Executive Officer and Director
Thanks, Lisa, and good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining us on our second quarter 2020 earnings conference call. Following the receipt of the Complete Response Letter for OCA and NASH, announced on June 29, we've been focused on two main objectives. First, to prepare for a Type A meeting with FDA. And second, to ensure that we remain in a strong financial position as we work to get the U.S. regulatory process supporting the approval of OCA for NASH back on track.
Based on our latest review of our available data, together with the leading NASH experts in advance of our upcoming interactions with FDA, we've continued to reaffirm our strong conviction in the positive benefit-risk profile of OCA for the treatment of patients with fibrosis due to NASH, supporting our application for accelerated approval. As you well know, REGENERATE remains the only Phase 3 NASH trial to produce positive interim data, meeting FDA's guidance for accelerated approval, and we continue to believe OCA has the potential to become a foundational treatment, particularly for patients with advanced fibrosis at highest risk of progressing to cirrhosis and its complications.
In addition to achieving the complex, composite primary fibrosis endpoint of REGENERATE with high statistical significance, OCA demonstrated robust anti-fibrotic efficacy across a range of histologic non-invasive and biochemical parameters. This benefit has continued to be reaffirmed through ongoing analysis and we look forward to sharing important new supportive data at the upcoming virtual EASL conference next month, as well as its subsequent scientific meetings.
In preparing for our Type A meeting with FDA, we've been focused on comprehensively addressing the issues FDA raised on both sides of benefit-risk, reframing the available core efficacy and safety data, while demonstrating how effective risk management tools can ensure appropriate patient selection and even further enhance OCA's benefit-risk profile in the post-marketing setting. We believe this should prove helpful to ensure a productive Type A meeting, which we expect will take place by early fourth quarter and set the stage for any further steps we may need to take to gain alignment with the FDA regarding the resubmission of our NDA.
In parallel, we are also gratified to have received strong support from external stakeholders, including NASH opinion leading clinical experts and patient advocates, who share our strong conviction in OCA's basis for approval and who are eager to express their views to the agency. As always, as we navigate through this process, we will remain committed to providing any material updates as we have.
Regarding the anticipated timeline, we expect that on reaching agreement on the path forward and once we then resubmit our NDA, we anticipate receiving a six-month review during which we would anticipate an advisory committee meeting where NASH clinical experts and patient advocates would have the opportunity to express their views publicly on the merits of OCA as the first potential treatment for fibrosis due to NASH.
In the meantime, I'd like to remind you that our MAA for conditional approval of OCA and NASH in Europe continues to undergo EMA review, which remains on track.
As I mentioned earlier, we've undertaken an internal review of all of our investments. We are, of course, postponing our NASH launch preparation efforts and have identified other savings across the business. As a result, we announced today that we have lowered our 2020 non-GAAP adjusted operating expense guidance range by $100 million, while still retaining the critical resources needed to continue supporting our NASH clinical program, successfully resubmit our NDA, and continue to drive growth in our foundational PBC business.
Now moving to our operating results. Our global PBC business continues to perform well. Our performance for the quarter was strong, with reported net sales of $77.2 million, our biggest quarter since launch. While these results herald promising signs of recovery, we continue to closely monitor the COVID-19 situation and its impact to our business. With respect to our global clinical development programs, as you know our Phase 3 NASH trials REGENERATE and REVERSE have been fully enrolled for some time, and I'm gratified to see that to-date the pandemic has had little apparent impact on these ongoing trials.
Meanwhile, while we previously announced the decision to temporarily pause enrollment in our other trials, I'm pleased to announce we have reinitiated screening and randomization of patients in our Phase 4 COBALT outcomes trial in PBC, and we plan to soon restart enrollment in our combination study with OCA and bezafibrate. Given the positive previously reported clinical data we've seen supporting the development of this combination therapy, we continue to have strong conviction in the value of our long-term PBC business. We have not experienced any significant disruptions to our supply chain and we continue to successfully supply the product globally for our Ocaliva PBC business and investigational product for our ongoing trials.
Before I turn it over to Jerry, I wanted to take a moment to highlight what continues to inspire all of us at Intercept as we continue driving forward to bring OCA to patients with advanced fibrosis due to NASH. We've received an enormous outpouring of support from external stakeholders within the NASH and broader hepatology community. This support is the result of the conviction they have and the strength of our data supporting approval of OCA, coupled with the serious nature of this disease that has become a leading cause of liver failure with no available approved therapy. We truly value the strong relationships and support that we have within the community and will remain focused on our mission to lead the way in supporting those living with progressive non-viral liver diseases.
Now I'd like to turn the call over to Jerry to provide an update on our global PBC business and commercial activities.
Jerome Durso -- Chief Operating Officer
Thanks, Mark, and good morning, everyone. I'll start by discussing our Ocaliva results for the quarter and then provide you an update on the adjustments we've made to our commercial activities since we've received the Complete Response Letter. In the first quarter, we reported $77.2 million in worldwide Ocaliva net sales, which represents growth of 17% versus the prior-year quarter and is our highest quarterly sales to-date. In the U.S., we achieved net sales of $59.6 million in the second quarter as our end-market demand was strong and we continued to see good total prescription growth versus the prior-year quarter.
In the international region, we achieved ex-U.S. Ocaliva net sales of $17.6 million in quarter two. These results reflect the continued strong performance in our key international markets. In Europe, we did see a reversal of the trend from last quarter, where some customers more proactively increased inventory levels in response to the uncertainty of the early COVID-19 period. Our global Ocaliva business has proven to be resilient through COVID-19, and we've been pleased with our ability to maintain patients on therapy, despite the challenges of the pandemic. As you would expect, with the overall slowdown in patient visits, we did see an impact during the second quarter in new patient starts, which remained at a lower level than quarter one when COVID-19 began to emerge as a global issue.
Turning now to NASH. Our teams have made significant progress over the last 18 months in our overall efforts to educate stakeholders on the implications of advanced fibrosis due to NASH and the appropriate identification of these patients. Following our receipt of the Complete Response Letter, we conducted a full review of our global commercial plan. We were able to take advantage of the flexibility we have built into our commercial strategy and lower our expected operating expenses going forward in 2020. For example, we have eliminated our contract sales organization. Additionally, we've made the difficult but necessary decision to postpone our NASH launch preparation activities for the immediate future, and are refocusing commercially on the growth of our core PBC business.
I believe the progress we've made on education and awareness within the NASH community will have a lasting effect. Awareness of the devastation of this disease on patients with advanced fibrosis is evidenced by our market research results as well as the support that we're experiencing from the community. Once we have a better understanding of our regulatory path forward in the U.S., including our timelines for resubmission, we will be well positioned to scale as necessary and reinitiate our NASH launch efforts based on our learnings to-date.
In the meantime, we've acted quickly and have redeployed our field teams to focus on PBC, and that effort is timely as customer interactions are rebounding. Our territory business managers have begun to interact with physicians again through multiple virtual channels and in person where appropriate. For example, in June, our interactions doubled relative to the prior month and our market research shows that healthcare providers are eager to hear from our PBC field teams again. So overall, we refocused our commercial efforts toward PBC, while reducing our expected 2020 operating expenses by a significant amount. I'm pleased with the steps that we've made to-date to facilitate those reductions and we will continue to evaluate sensible cost saving opportunities as we move forward.
And now, I'll turn the call over to our Chief Financial Officer, Sandip Kapadia, for a financial update. Sandip?
Sandip Kapadia -- Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer
Thank you, Jerry, and good morning, everyone. Please refer to our press release issued earlier this morning for a full summary of our financial results for the quarter ended June 30, 2020. I'd like to take the opportunity to share with you important updates on our strong Q2 commercial results, our new 2020 Ocaliva net sales guidance and our updated 2020 non-GAAP adjusted operating expense guidance.
Starting with our Q2 commercial performance. In the second quarter, we recognized $77.2 million in Ocaliva net sales, our highest quarter to-date, up from $65.9 million in the second quarter of 2019. Our second quarter Ocaliva net sales comprised of U.S. net sales of $59.6 million and ex-US net sales of $17.6 million. This represents the growth of approximately 18% and 16%, respectively, versus the prior-year quarter.
Our GAAP operating expenses for the second quarter were $129.3 million and our non-GAAP adjusted operating expenses were $112.4 million. As a reminder, our non-GAAP adjusted operating expenses exclude stock-based compensation and depreciation. Non-GAAP adjusted operating expense is a non-GAAP financial measure under SEC regulations. Please refer to our press release issued earlier this morning for a full explanation and reconciliation of this measure. Our cost of sales for the second quarter were $1.9 million, compared to $0.7 million in the prior-year quarter.
Our selling, general and administrative expenses for the second quarter were $93.4 million. This represents an increase of $23.7 million over the prior-year quarter and was driven primarily by increased investment in our NASH pre-launch activities. Our research and development expenses for the second quarter were $34 million, and includes the anticipated $22 million offset related to the U.K. R&D tax credit. Absent the impact of this tax credit, R&D expense is generally consistent with the prior-year quarter.
As of June 30, 2020, we were well positioned with cash, cash equivalents, restricted cash and investment debt securities available for sale of approximately $540.6 million.
And now turning to our updated financial guidance for the year. As we focus our commercial efforts on PBC in the back half of this year, we have decided to provide Ocaliva net sales guidance and now expect full-year 2020 Ocaliva net sales in the range of $300 million to $320 million. As Mark and Jerry mentioned, following the receipt of the Complete Response Letter, we carefully reviewed our investment plan and have determined to postpone our NASH launch preparation activity and disease education effort. In connection with this review, we have reduced our 2020 non-GAAP adjusted operating expense guidance range by $100 million.
While Jerry covered some of the specific actions we've taken that factored into our updated guidance range, we expect to provide additional details as we move forward into the second half of this year. Given that we no longer expect to launch in NASH this year, we believe the steps we've taken to reduce expenses, combined with our growing PBC business, will allow us to support our regulatory process with the FDA, continue to invest in our growing PBC business and fund our key ongoing clinical trials.
We now expect 2020 non-GAAP adjusted operating expenses to be in the range of $460 million to $500 million, down from the previous range of between $560 million and $600 million.
In summary, I'm pleased with these initial steps we've taken to reduce our operating expenses and assure you that we will continue to be prudent as we assess our future investments. We remain in a strong financial position as we focus on bringing important therapies to patients with non-viral liver disease.
With that, I'd like to turn the call over to the operator for any questions. Operator?
Questions and Answers:
Operator
[Operator Instructions] Our first question or comment comes from the line of Michael Yee from Jefferies. Your line is open.
Michael Yee -- Jefferies -- Analyst
Hey, good morning. Thanks, and congrats on a good PBC quarter. Maybe for Mark or the team, obviously, you made a comment about preparing for a Type A meeting ahead of a discussion on NASH. Maybe you could just shed some light on what you think the two or three scenarios you think simplifying that could be? Do you still think you could file this year or it would be next year? And would you wait to get your meeting minutes back to update us or if there was pretty good clarity you would come back to us pretty quickly as soon as you meet with them? Thanks.
Mark Pruzanski -- President, Chief Executive Officer and Director
Yeah. Thanks, Mike. So as you mentioned, we are very focused right now on preparing for the Type A meeting. And as I mentioned in my prepared remarks, we've been really working meticulously with a number of external experts, NASH experts, to ensure that we really reframe all aspects of benefit-risk here with the risk management overlay and set the stage for our proposed resubmission of the NDA. I think it's difficult right now to speculate on what the timeline could look like. But of course, if we were to come to alignment in the context of the single Type A meeting, then we would do everything possible to work toward an expeditious resubmission, which we hope would be prior to year-end.
If additional clarification of steps will be required after the Type A meeting to reach adequate alignment to support resubmission, the timeline could get pushed out a little further. And since the last time we spoke about this on June 29, we've obviously taken a look at precedents. And while every case of the CR letter with additional data requested is unique, on average, we've seen from receipt of CR to approval in successful cases go somewhere in the range of a year or 14 months. And as I also mentioned it in the call, upon resubmission, we would expect here a six-month review clock, expecting, of course, to see an advisory committee occur. So -- and then the second part of your question, when -- we will update you the moment we have anything material to update you on, and I can't speculate exactly when that will be.
Michael Yee -- Jefferies -- Analyst
Okay. Thanks.
Mark Pruzanski -- President, Chief Executive Officer and Director
Thanks, Mike.
Operator
Thank you. Our next question or comment comes from the line of Yasmeen Rahimi from Piper Sandler. Your line is open.
Yasmeen Rahimi -- Piper Sandler -- Analyst
Hi, team. Thank you for taking my questions. Two quick questions. The first one is, can you share with us how -- what your expectation is in terms of what -- how much feedback you're going to get from the FDA during the Type A meeting that could be informative for you? And then the second question is, can you shed a little bit light into the upcoming late-breaker poster, which is you'll will be sharing with us, EASL 24-month data of transaminases and non-invasive biomarkers? And thank you again for taking our questions.
Mark Pruzanski -- President, Chief Executive Officer and Director
Sure, Yas. And congrats on your new role. I think with respect to the first part of the question, again, we are taking the time to really prepare well for this Type A meeting and set the stage hopefully for the most constructive interaction with the review division as possible such that we really maximize the chance that we are able to reach alignment on key issues to support resubmission. So while typically a Type A meeting following a CRL letter is more meant to -- for the agencies to communicate its view on deficiencies, here we're -- we are really working to ensure that we provide them with a comprehensive reframing of the basis for the resubmission. So hopefully that'll be productive. But as I mentioned and answered to the previous question, it could very well be and will be prepared for this -- that additional interaction and steps might be required to reach alignment.
With respect to EASL, I mean, we're excited about the upcoming virtual EASL at the end of the month. We've got a number of abstracts in both the NASH and PBC programs. You mentioned a late-breaker. I mean, I believe that all of the abstracts, including the late-breakers, are going to be made available by EASL, or most of the late-breakers in about 10 days from now. And in general, I would say, we're excited that we'll be able to present data -- longer-term exposure data of 24-plus months that are highly suggestive in our view of continuing and further benefit that these patients on OCA are receiving with longer-term treatment.
Yasmeen Rahimi -- Piper Sandler -- Analyst
Thank you, Mark, and best of luck as you head into the meeting.
Mark Pruzanski -- President, Chief Executive Officer and Director
Thank you.
Operator
Thank you. Our next question or comment comes from the line of Alethia Young from Cantor. Your line is open.
Alethia Young -- Cantor Fitzgerald -- Analyst
Hey, guys. Thanks for taking my question. And I just wanted to maybe just ask a little bit about, depending on what happens with the Type A, is there a way to potentially appeal and escalate further that could help kind of expedite the process? Thank you.
Mark Pruzanski -- President, Chief Executive Officer and Director
Yeah. Thanks for the question, Alethia. So, you know, the first step here and what we are absolutely focused on is the Type A meeting. And as I mentioned and answered to the previous two questions, we hope to position ourselves to really have a highly constructive interaction with the review division. And we will absolutely be prepared to take additional steps in support of our view that the totality of data on both sides of benefit-risk very much do support the basis for accelerated approval. And we will continue to make that case with the agency.
Alethia Young -- Cantor Fitzgerald -- Analyst
Great. Thanks.
Operator
Thank you. Our next question or comment comes from the line of Joel Beatty from Citi. Your line is open.
Joel Beatty -- Citi -- Analyst
Hi. Thanks for taking the question. Has FDA seen any unblinded outcomes data from the ongoing REGENERATE trial? And is it possible that they could see that in the future when we refile? Thanks.
Mark Pruzanski -- President, Chief Executive Officer and Director
Yeah. Thanks, Joel. So the way the study is designed, again, as an outcomes trial, time-to-event analysis, after the month 18 interim analysis, we, as the sponsor, and the agency, are to remain blinded on to outcomes on data right until the end of the study. It is theoretically possible that FDA could access unblinded outcomes data along the way, but that's not currently provided for in the protocol or the statistical analysis plan.
Joel Beatty -- Citi -- Analyst
Got it. Thank you.
Operator
Thank you. Our next question or comment comes from the line of Jay Olson from Oppenheimer. Your line is open.
Jay Olson -- Oppenheimer -- Analyst
Hi. Thank you for taking the questions. Depending on how the Type A meeting goes with FDA, would Intercept consider a narrowed strategy to focus on rare liver diseases, including strengthening your leadership position in PBC, by developing a combination of OCA with bezafibrate and possibly pursuing OCA for PSC based on the strength of your AESOP study and potentially walking away from NASH?
Mark Pruzanski -- President, Chief Executive Officer and Director
Well, look, I mean, first I would answer that we are confident in our data from REGENERATE and our entire NASH program in support of approval of OCA as the first treatment in NASH. And, of course, a huge focus of the Company right now is to, starting with the Type A meeting that we're planning for, is to get the review back on track and work as hard as possible to ensure that we get the first NASH treatment to patients with advanced fibrosis who, as you know, currently have no available treatments to them.
But the thrust of your question is -- I think is important to point out, is the enormous value, I think of our foundational business and PBC, which has reported, as you know, a record quarter since launch of business continues to grow. And we continue very much to be committed to patients with PBC who have a need and or eligible for Ocaliva treatment worldwide. So, we will continue to drive to build that business. And in the unexpected eventuality that you're flagging, we certainly have a great foundational business to continue to build the company upon.
Jay Olson -- Oppenheimer -- Analyst
Great. Thanks for taking the question.
Operator
Thank you. Our next question or comment comes from the line of Mayank Mamtani from B. Riley. Your line is open.
Mayank Mamtani -- B. Riley FBR -- Analyst
Thanks team for taking my questions, and I appreciate this detailed update on the CRL. So very quickly on the -- could you maybe comment on the pre-outcome package that you were working on? And in context of that, what is incremental that you might be working toward this early October meeting for Type A? I think you said -- data said, in context of both benefit and risk, but Mark, could you be more specific what you may have had before for your AdCom versus what you might be thinking about for your Type A?
Mark Pruzanski -- President, Chief Executive Officer and Director
Yeah, [Technical Issues] too many to fix here because as I've mentioned [Technical Issues] data set have from REGENERATE, all along the course of the review and specifically in the context of preparing for the advisory committee, we continue to generate additional data, additional analyses for lending further support to our conviction in benefit-risk of the drug. Now, as again I mentioned in the prepared remarks, in preparing for the Type A meeting, we have additional analyses that uphold benefit. And I will give you one recent example. I've mentioned before the fact that the agency has become seized of the fact that there -- that in the pathologists' assessment of these semi-quantitative categorical endpoints, not surprisingly, well known in the literature that there is a decent amount of variability on an intra- and inter-reader basis.
And actually, I would point you to a paper that's in press right now in the Journal of Hepatology by Davison at all that looks at this quite comprehensively in the context of a Phase 2b study that read out last year called EMMINENCE. And they really did a deep dive on this intra- and intra-reader variability in the context of the NASH histology endpoints with really statistically supported conclusion that what this variability does is lead to an under-powering of studies, and more importantly, an underestimation of treatment effect. And so in support of the robust results that we reported now in two well-controlled studies, FLINT and then, of course, our pivotal study REGENERATE, it's important to note the fact that OCA in both of those trials overcame this noise of the variability and showed with high statistical significance, the ability to reverse fibrosis, which again is unprecedented. So that's just one example on the efficacy side.
On the safety side, I mentioned in the call we had on June 29 that the -- there was an enormous piece of work that we did doing a comprehensive assessment of liver health and safety across our entire NASH study population. This is really, I think, groundbreaking work in, of course, looking at OCA's safety profile, liver safety profile in that context. And that's really an important additional boost on the safety side. And most importantly that the very reassuring conclusions from this exercise that perhaps, as expected, it's patients who have clearly strongly suspected cirrhosis or confirmed cirrhosis with in any case evidence of declining hepatic reserve, of hepatic impairment, of clinically significant portal hypertension. These are the patients who are at significantly greater risk from the liver safety standpoint and can relatively straightforwardly be identified non-invasively with routine lab parameters and other tests that are used on every single day to assess the liver functional status of patients like these. So that's an important example on the safety side of something that we're framing up for the Type A meeting.
Mayank Mamtani -- B. Riley FBR -- Analyst
That's great. Very helpful color, Mark. And if I can quickly ask Sandip for a quick follow-up on the R&D tax credit. You received, I believe, from the U.K. government, is that a one-time thing or should we be modeling something else in the coming quarters?
Sandip Kapadia -- Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer
Yeah. Hi, Mayank. It's Sandip here. Yeah, that's a benefit that's offered by the U.K. government for they -- for certain percentage of our R&D expenses, they provide us as a credit back. We've applied for a few years and we're pleased that we received some of the payment here. I mean, I wouldn't say it's an annual thing that you would kind of model in. But as we make progress on our claims, we'd certainly continue to update you. But it's certainly -- we're already pleased with the effort that -- and the support that we have on this, which allowed us, obviously, to reduce our operating expenses this quarter.
Mayank Mamtani -- B. Riley FBR -- Analyst
Great. Thanks so much for taking my questions.
Operator
Thank you. Our next question or comment comes from the line of Brian Abrahams from RBC Capital Markets. Your line is open.
Brian Abrahams -- RBC Capital Markets -- Analyst
Hi, there. Thanks so much for taking my question. Can you share any thoughts in light of the CRL and some of the evolving data analyses as to whether there may be any more specifically appropriate NASH sub-populations that could maximally benefit from OCA and for whom FDA's overall view of benefit-risk may differ, how that overall relates to this idea of reframing? And then you've also mentioned the expectations for an AdCom. Have you guys formally requested an AdCom as part of any sort of dispute resolution process? And if so, have you heard yet inviting? Thanks.
Mark Pruzanski -- President, Chief Executive Officer and Director
Yeah. Thanks, Brian. I mean, with respect to the first part of your question, as you know, with the population studies, our breakthrough designation is in NASH patients with liver fibrosis, which stands the range potentially of everything from early F1 fibrosis to -- well, to non-cirrhotic F3 fibrosis in the initial indication. That said, as you well know, we had a NASH Commercial Day in December and we very clearly outlined our specific focus on patients with advanced fibrosis, who are at greatest risk of progressing to cirrhosis and its complications, because that's where the highest unmet need is, that's where the value proposition is highest and that's where we think, we with OCA can do the most good. So that already represents a subset of the potential indicated population. And I do think that's important to frame with the agency in framing up their overall benefit-risk assessment.
With the second part of your question was with respect to the requesting an advisory committee. And again, our sole focus right now is to prepare comprehensively for the Type A meeting. And again, assuming whether in the wake of that meeting or subsequent steps that may be needed, our assumption right now is that upon resubmitting the NDA that the agency will continue to wish to have an advisory committee. And we repeatedly stated that what -- one key aspect of the incompleteness of the first cycle review was the absence of opportunity for patients and for NASH clinical experts to publicly opine on the merits of OCA's first treatment for patients with NASH and fibrosis.
Brian Abrahams -- RBC Capital Markets -- Analyst
Thanks so much.
Mark Pruzanski -- President, Chief Executive Officer and Director
Thanks.
Operator
Thank you. Our next question or comment comes from the line of Jim Birchenough from Wells Fargo. Your line is open.
Jim Birchenough -- Wells Fargo -- Analyst
Yeah. Hi guys. Congrats on the Ocaliva quarter. Maybe a tough question to answer, but you've mentioned a few times looking to reach alignment with FDA and clearly off the CRL letter, there's not alignment yet. How do you avoid hearing what you want to hear and getting true alignment? And how do you communicate that to the street that your view of alignment is FDA's view of alignment? Thanks.
Mark Pruzanski -- President, Chief Executive Officer and Director
Hey, Jim. Look, I think it starts with being meticulously prepared, both in terms of the briefing book that we expect to shortly submit and they lead up to and participation in the meeting, where, hopefully, we set up -- set the stage for a truly constructive transparent exchange of views and something that we can base alignment on is a basis for resubmission. Of course, at the moment, whether it's that meeting or any required follow-up interactions where we feel that we have enough from the agency to base resubmission on, we'll obviously be communicating that to you. But I think that, it's difficult to speculate right now on exactly what that's going to look like.
Jim Birchenough -- Wells Fargo -- Analyst
And Mark, the data you will present at EASL, is that data that would be new to FDA? And are you bringing that to the Type A meeting?
Mark Pruzanski -- President, Chief Executive Officer and Director
Yeah. I mean, some of it will be new, at least with respect to the prior submission. FDA, I'm sure, will have an opportunity to see it, presented at EASL. And yes, we intend to include really the core efficacy data with a primary focus on the fibrosis benefit in the Type A meeting.
Jim Birchenough -- Wells Fargo -- Analyst
Great. Thanks for taking the questions.
Mark Pruzanski -- President, Chief Executive Officer and Director
Thanks, Jim.
Operator
Thank you. Our next question or comment comes from the line of Salveen Richter from Goldman Sachs. Your line is open.
Salveen Richter -- Goldman, Sachs & Co. -- Analyst
Hi, good morning. Thanks for taking the question. Can you guys just elaborate a little bit further on what you mean by reframing the risk-benefit profile? What does that really look like versus how you initially presented it to the agency?
Mark Pruzanski -- President, Chief Executive Officer and Director
Well, it's really a question of focusing on the submitted data. I mean, as we've mentioned on June 29, it's our clear belief that, based on the Complete Response Letter, that there was not a complete review of the data and appreciation of the magnitude of benefit. And I gave an example couple of questions ago about recent developments in appreciation of the impact of the pathologist variability and how that leads to an underestimation of treatment effects. And so part of the reframing of this is just really clarifying the magnitude of benefit, also clarifying additional safety and then pointing the way, and this is new work that frankly we're really proud of, how to quite straightforwardly -- how clinicians quite straightforwardly can identify patients appropriate for treatment versus patients with more advanced disease who should be excluded. So it's really bringing together and reframing the totality of data in that way, which includes incorporating it [Technical Issues] that the agency had a chance to review yet.
Salveen Richter -- Goldman, Sachs & Co. -- Analyst
Great. Thank you.
Mark Pruzanski -- President, Chief Executive Officer and Director
Thanks.
Operator
Thank you. Our next question or comment comes from the line of Alan Carr from Needham & Company. Your line is open.
Alan Carr -- Needham & Company -- Analyst
Hi, thanks for taking my questions. Can you give some more detail on where things stand in the European review? Is that a decision that you expect this year? And then what's your latest estimates on penetration in the U.S. and Europe in the PBC market, where do you think you can get? Thanks.
Mark Pruzanski -- President, Chief Executive Officer and Director
Sure. I'll answer the first part and hand to Jerry for the second. So in Europe, as I mentioned in my prepared remarks, the review remains on track. Obviously, it really just started in January, so we're in earlier stage in the review. But as we've guided before Alan, we do not expect approval or revenues in Europe this year. That it's -- it's going to be a next year completion of review. With respect to penetration, Jerry, if you could take that?
Jerome Durso -- Chief Operating Officer
Yeah. Thanks, Alan. It's Jerry. We continue to believe and see that the PBC market has good remaining potential for us to access both in the U.S. and in Europe. I think if you look at the growth we posted in the first half and the sales guidance despite the disruption that's obviously out there with COVID, it's an indicator that there are continues to be patients out there that need to be identified for appropriate therapy and Ocaliva within the indication. The confidence that the individual prescribing physicians have as they gain more experience over time leads us to that. So there are more patients. I think the opportunity now with the CRL to really refocus commercially back to PBC as we move in the next period is going to allow us to continue to grow. And we still, again, feel we have a significant opportunity yet in the PBC opportunity.
Alan Carr -- Needham & Company -- Analyst
Great. Thank you for taking my questions.
Operator
Thank you. Our next question or comment comes from the line of Brian Skorney from Baird. Your line is open.
Jack Allen -- Baird -- Analyst
Hi, thank you. This is Jack dialing in for Brian. I know you mentioned a little bit on REGENERATE and that you plan to share some new data with the FDA from the EASL abstract. But I was wondering if you could also give us an update with respect to the long-term outcomes data from REGENERATE. Have you seen any of that data unblinded? Has FDA seen any of that data on an unblinded basis? And is there any, I guess, aspects of that data set that you would plan to use for a potential resubmission? Thank you.
Mark Pruzanski -- President, Chief Executive Officer and Director
Yeah. Thanks for the question. So, no, I mean, as I mentioned earlier in the call, I mean, REGENERATE is an ongoing blinded outcomes data. And it's powered based on time-to-event with the target 291 events prior to unblinding. And as currently planned, both we and the agency will remain blinded to outcomes data until the completion of the study. It is theoretically possible that the agency -- we could make provision for the agency to view approved outcomes data along the way, but that's not -- currently not planned.
Jack Allen -- Baird -- Analyst
Awesome. Thank you so much.
Mark Pruzanski -- President, Chief Executive Officer and Director
Thanks.
Operator
Thank you. Our next question or comment comes from the line of Geoff Meacham from Bank of America. Your line is open.
Aspen Mori -- Bank of America -- Analyst
Hey, guys. It's Aspen on for Geoff. Thanks for taking our questions. I guess, first off on NASH, do any of today's updates, the lowered opex guidance, the Ocaliva revenue guidance, redeployed PBC field force, does any of that speak to maybe a strategic shift away from NASH depending on how the Type A meeting and align with FDA goes? And then quickly on PBC, I love to get your thoughts on -- latest thoughts on the competitive landscape, given that some of your competitors are either already in Phase 3 or are starting to move into that phase? Thank you.
Mark Pruzanski -- President, Chief Executive Officer and Director
Yeah, I'll try to answer and then maybe Jerry or Sandip if you can anything to add. But the short answer is no. There is no strategic pivot whatsoever from NASH. We are just being prudent, given the delays right now that we faced in getting to NASH approval. But as I mentioned in my prepared remarks and throughout this call, we are very, very focused on preparing for Type A meeting with the agency to start the process of getting our NASH NDA back on track and get OCA to NASH patients as the first-ever NASH drug. So you should not read into today's announcement as a pivot away, but rather a prudent -- a pruning back of investments while we get things back on track with the NASH application.
I'll go to the PBC side, the competitive landscape. I mean, again, on -- there's really no major shift. I mean, Ocaliva has now been four years in market. You can see that the business continues to grow. We have an entrenched position in second line in multiple countries. We also, keep in mind, continue to generate data. So one of the abstracts at EASL coming up is a six-year open-label data from our Phase 3 POISE trial. We actually now have clearance to go and communicate five-year long-term durable safety efficacy data in the market, which we're preparing for. And we have -- we just reinitiated enrollment of COBALT, our Phase 4 outcomes trial.
So, we will irrespective of competing products that may or may not come in the next few years, we will continue to -- we believe we remain far ahead with data supporting the value of OCA. And of course with respect to long-term lifecycle, we are committed to developing a combination -- fixed-dose combination of OCA with bezafibrate. And we have reason to believe, based on available clinical data so far looking at bezafibrate on its own, in patients URSO or not responsive to URSO, and also limited but reassuring in supportive data sets of the combo of OCA with bezafibrate that have been presented at different scientific meetings that we will remain very, very strongly competitive in the PBC market.
Aspen Mori -- Bank of America -- Analyst
Thank you.
Mark Pruzanski -- President, Chief Executive Officer and Director
Jerry, Sandip on the -- I don't know if you have anything to add about refocusing investments.
Sandip Kapadia -- Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer
No, I guess, just maybe one other point is that, obviously, the opportunity now to refocus the commercial efforts on PBC will continue to be, as Mark suggested, at the center of the scientific conversation with NASH, that won't change. I think the final point is that we have obviously learned a huge amount in terms of our efforts in market. And as I said in the prepared remarks, believe strongly that the education we've already taken under way will have a lasting effect. And that as we progress and really have a better understanding of our path forward, we'll be well positioned to do the right things quickly in order to pivot back as and when it's appropriate.
Operator
Thank you. Our next question or comment comes from the line of Steve Seedhouse from Raymond James. Your line is open.
Steve Seedhouse -- Raymond James -- Analyst
Good morning. Thanks for taking my question. Mark, I just have to drill down more on the discussion of patient selection and risk-benefit because you pretty nicely highlighted the rationale for focusing on the fibrosis subsets bridging fibrosis etc., you didn't really mention narrowing the focus on the potential risk side of the equation, which, of course, is ostensibly highest in patients on statins, diabetics etc. So maybe could you clarify a part of the regulatory strategy is in fact narrowing the initial label with respect to co-morbidities versus what you originally intended. That would be helpful. Thank you.
Mark Pruzanski -- President, Chief Executive Officer and Director
Yeah. Thanks for the question. So there isn't that kind of broader intend, but let me just take a step back and point out that the way that the FDA and the EMA view the NASH population, sort of two distinct populations. There are NASH patients with fibrosis who have not yet developed cirrhosis and then there are patients who are already cirrhotic. And as you know, we have fully enrolled a Phase 3 trial REVERSE on studying OCA 10 milligrams and 25 milligrams in NASH patients with compensated cirrhosis, which is expected to read out by the end of next year, but that's opened under a separate IND.
And so what that means for us and for anyone developing a NASH drug with an initial focus on NASH fibrosis is that, that will define the population. And so on the risk side of it -- on the risk side of the equation, obviously, cirrhotics are significantly stepped up risk, particularly, well, really exclusively in our view cirrhotics with evidence on some amount of hepatic impairment, of declining hepatic reserve and/or clinically significant portal hypertension. And so when I talk about managing the risk and identifying patients appropriate for treatment and to exclude from treatment, I'm really talking about identifying such patients with greater risk who will not be part of the initial indicated population. That's true for us. That's also true for anyone who follows us with an initial focus at least on the NASH fibrosis population. But actually to be complete in response to your question, we don't intend -- we saw a benefit in diabetics and non-diabetics. We've long maintained with respect to patients who are dyslipidemic and this is in the AASLD and EASL guidelines that these patients can safely and effectively use statin therapy. And we generated a lot of data showing that the safe use an effective use of statins in combination with OCA to manage LDL.
Steve Seedhouse -- Raymond James -- Analyst
Great. Thank you.
Mark Pruzanski -- President, Chief Executive Officer and Director
Thanks.
Operator
Thank you. Our next question or comment comes from the line of Navin Jacob from UBS. Your line is open.
Jonathan Lim -- UBS -- Analyst
Hi, team. Thank you for taking our questions. This is Jonathan on for Navin. Two quick ones, if I may. I wanted to ask first about the pushes and pulls behind this new opex guidance, if you could give us a sense of how that $100 million shakes up between R&D versus SG&A? And then our second question would just be, how should we think about pricing going forward?
Mark Pruzanski -- President, Chief Executive Officer and Director
Sandip?
Sandip Kapadia -- Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer
Yeah, hi. It's Sandip. Thanks for the question. I think what -- I mean, since the letter, I mean, we're very much focused on having a plan in place to -- which allowed us today to give you an updated -- to take down our operating expense range by $100 million. With regard to context further on that, I mean, Jerry, did speak a little bit about discontinuing of our contract sales force, pulling back on our NASH pre-launch investments, as well as we're looking at expenses across the rest of the organization as well. So I can't really provide like, if you want to call it a, breakout at this stage, but I can assure you that we'll continue to be prudent as we assess our future investments. And we'll continue to update you as we execute on our plan.
Operator
Thank you. Our next question or comment will come from the line of Michael Morabito. Your line is open.
Michael V. Morabito -- Chardan -- Analyst
Thank you team for taking the questions. I wanted to ask you, generally, the guidelines for the EMA are viewed as slightly more different and difficult than FDA. And so, considering the CRL and the submission that you have with EMA, what gives you hope about your submission there and how that regulatory process is going that you would expect a more positive outcome?
Mark Pruzanski -- President, Chief Executive Officer and Director
Yeah. Well, I think you're referring to the EMA reflection paper, which is equivalent to a draft guidance on the development of NASH fibrosis drugs, which came out, I guess, a year and half ago now. And that does suggest that both of the primary endpoints of fibrosis improvement with no worsening of NASH and NASH resolution, no worsening of fibrosis needs to be demonstrated. There is also provision for drugs that are primarily anti-fibrotic to support the fibrosis benefit with demonstration of two fibrosis stage improvement. And we've long-maintained that based on the totality of our data with OCA and REGENERATE that we have convincing efficacy as a basis for submission of our MAA. And we continue to feel that we have a constructive basis for continue to proceed in that review with the EMA.
I would also point out that while it's true that the two agencies interact with one another, in general and then specifically on NASH, and certainly they have an opportunity to exchange views through things like the liver forum and maybe over time there will be a harmonization of approach. EMA, of course, is an independent regulatory agency, and we would expect that their review of our NDA will be their own. And of course, as is true on the U.S. side, we hope to support the fact that the data generated in the month 18 from analyses [Technical Issues].
Michael V. Morabito -- Chardan -- Analyst
Thanks, Mark.
Operator
Thank you. At this time, we will need to end the Q&A session. I would like to turn the conference back over to Dr. Pruzanski for any closing remarks.
Mark Pruzanski -- President, Chief Executive Officer and Director
Yeah. Thanks, operator. [Technical Issues] on our quarterly earnings call. As you can see, we just delivered our strongest quarter ever in our traditional business with [Technical Issues] PBC need. At the same time, we are very, very focused on getting toward a review in the U.S. back on track with respect to NASH. I mean, comprehensively preparing for what we hope will be a highly constructive exchange at the upcoming Type A meeting so that we get as expeditiously as possible in position to resubmit it.
And, of course, as fiscal stewards of shareholder capital, we've taken appropriate steps to step back by $100 million in terms of our guidance range, our opex, and preserve capital for an extended period of time as we navigate the delay on the NASH side. We have the wind at our backs. We have enormous support from the KOL community and from patient advocates who are passionate on our behalf that OCA get to patients in need with NASH and advanced fibrosis as expeditiously as possible. And so, we will continue leading the way in NASH and PBC and progressive non-viral liver disease on behalf of patients. Thanks very much and look forward to providing our next update.
Operator
[Operator Closing Remarks]
Duration: 58 minutes
Call participants:
Lisa DeFrancesco -- Head of Investor Relations
Mark Pruzanski -- President, Chief Executive Officer and Director
Jerome Durso -- Chief Operating Officer
Sandip Kapadia -- Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer
Michael Yee -- Jefferies -- Analyst
Yasmeen Rahimi -- Piper Sandler -- Analyst
Alethia Young -- Cantor Fitzgerald -- Analyst
Joel Beatty -- Citi -- Analyst
Jay Olson -- Oppenheimer -- Analyst
Mayank Mamtani -- B. Riley FBR -- Analyst
Brian Abrahams -- RBC Capital Markets -- Analyst
Jim Birchenough -- Wells Fargo -- Analyst
Salveen Richter -- Goldman, Sachs & Co. -- Analyst
Alan Carr -- Needham & Company -- Analyst
Jack Allen -- Baird -- Analyst
Aspen Mori -- Bank of America -- Analyst
Steve Seedhouse -- Raymond James -- Analyst
Jonathan Lim -- UBS -- Analyst
Michael V. Morabito -- Chardan -- Analyst
