Bleecker Street Research short United Therapeutics, long Liquidia

Funds managed by Bleecker Street are short United Therapeutics and long Liquidia. In a recently published report titled “United Therapeutics (UTHR) and Liquidia (LQDA): Trading Places,” the short seller said that, “UTHR is a $13 billion commercial-stage pharmaceutical company. The majority of its revenues come from a single product, Tyvaso. UTHR had been trying to keep a Tyvaso competitor called Yutrepia off the market for 5 years through patent suits, but its legal remedies appear to be coming to an end… UTHR’s pipeline appears too meager to be able to reignite sales growth in the face of stiff competition, including through a prospective Tyvaso indication that two doctors described to us as difficult to justify. Remaining UTHR patent challenges to Yutrepia seem to us to be insubstantial. Other next-generation therapies with superior dosing, including one from Insmed and another from LQDA, have designs on Tyvaso’s market and, we believe, will continue to take share from Tyvaso.We think the incumbent here is overexposed, and the challenger is significantly underappreciated.”