Impel Pharmaceuticals announces strategic reprioritization, departure of CMO

Impel Pharmaceuticals announced that it will implement an operational streamlining plan that will include a reduction of employee and non-employee expenses, largely impacting the research and development functions of the organization. The company plans to reprioritize spend to capitalize on the continued positive momentum in payor and prescriber uptake of Trudhesa nasal spray. The plan will halt research and development efforts on INP105 to address acute agitation and aggression in autism spectrum disorder. The resulting reduction in operating expenses is expected to be primarily driven by lower non-employee-related general and administrative and research and development expenses, and the 16 percent reduction in headcount. Aligned with this, the company also announced that Stephen Shrewsbury, current chief medical officer, will depart from the company effective March 31. Following these and other strategic measures, the company projects it will have sufficient capital to fund operations into Q3 and allow the company to prioritize its efforts to fully maximize the positive momentum and significant commercial opportunity of Trudhesa in the large and rapidly growing acute migraine market. Trudhesa has continued its strong launch trajectory and finished 2022 with 58,424 prescriptions. Based upon third-party data, it is estimated that at the end of 2022, after its first full year of launch, Trudhesa already accounted for 4.3% of branded acute migraine prescriptions among prescribers. In July 2022, Impel expanded its sales force by 50%, from 60 to 90 sales professionals, to capitalize on prescription momentum and the large business opportunity. New Trudhesa quarterly prescriptions increased by 58% from Q2 to Q4 2022 driven by this expanded, more efficient sales force. In addition, reimbursement of all shipments finished the year at over 60% and refill rates remained high with an average of 63% at the end of 2022. Along with increased focus on the commercialization of Trudhesa, Impel will continue with its evaluation of strategic and financing initiatives and opportunities to fully leverage the therapeutic potential of its proprietary POD technology and expertise with both small and large molecules in multiple disease areas.