Vericel Posts 2Q18 MACI Revenue Growth

For 2Q18, Vericel (VCEL) posted MACI orthobiologic revenue of US $14.1MM, +9.3% vs. 2Q17, and 1H18 revenue of $26.2MM, +46.3% vs. 1H17.

Vericel does not sell MACI ex-U.S.; therefore, there are no geographic segments to report.

Growth of the MACI salesforce and case management team, an increasing pharmacy distribution network and additional manufacturing capacity will lead to at least 30% growth in 2H18 for the cartilage repair product, per VCEL leadership. At the end of 2017, the company planned to build up the MACI salesforce from 28 reps in 4 regions to 40 reps in 5 regions. This is now complete. So is the cleanroom expansion, which can support MACI production for the next several years without significant additional investment.

Customer demand is deemed to be strong, and the company has trained ~700 physicians on the MACI procedure since launch in 1Q17. The goal for 2018 is 900, up from 500 trained by end of 2017.

At the end of the quarter, VCEL closed an underwritten public offering of 5,750,000 shares of common stock for gross proceeds of ~$74.8MM. Funds will support general corporate purposes and potential expansion by in-licensing or acquiring complementary product candidates, technologies, etc.

Source: Vericel Corporation