Valeant CEO Reveals Plans For 'Addyi'

Canadian pharmaceutical behemoth Valeant Pharmaceuticals Intl Inc VRX announced on Thursday that it would be acquiring Sprout Pharmaceuticals Inc., the maker of female libido drug 'Addyi', for $1 billion. On Tuesday, Addyi received FDA's approval, becoming the first female libido drug to do so.

Michael Pearson, Valeant Pharma chairman & CEO, was on CNBC to discuss the deal and how the company plans to market Addyi.

'Hopeful It's In Billions'

On the revenue potential of the drug, Pearson said, "I think, the [after earning] is quite large. It's certainly in the hundreds of millions for us, but we are hopeful it's in the billions in terms of what this could do from a revenue standpoint. But more important is the unmet need for this disease. That disease has been established for 30 years and there has been nothing out there. So, finally there is an opportunity for women to address an unmet need."

2 Triggers

Pearson was asked what will be the trigger that will drive the revenues from the drug to billions. He replied, "I think the trigger will be two things. One is good marketing and providing good access. Access will be critical."

TV Advertising

Pearson explained Valeant's plans for advertising the drug on TV, saying, "We will probably use TV. But it probably will be unbranded. It also depends on our ability to roll this out around the world because subset of women in the world, there's 4 plus billion women in the world."