Corcept's sales jumped from Q2. Its cancer launch explains half.

Corcept's cancer-drug launch is growing quickly, but it is not the only engine behind the company's latest sales jump. Its older endocrinology business supplied almost as much additional revenue in the September quarter.

Lifyorli sales rose 92% from the June quarter to $91.4 million. Korlym and its authorized generic version together grew 19% to $249.1 million. Total revenue reached $340.5 million, up from $256.1 million three months earlier.

Two businesses supplied the increase

Research by Ticker Byline shows that Lifyorli supplied about 52% of the $84.3 million sequential revenue increase. The older products contributed the remaining $40.5 million.

That makes the quarter broader than a successful launch story. Corcept's latest filing attributes most of the older products' year-over-year revenue increase to higher sales volume. Pricing and better reimbursement also helped, partly offset by more sales of the lower-priced authorized generic.

Corcept's medicines work by modulating the effects of cortisol. Lifyorli launched in April after U.S. approval for use with chemotherapy in a defined group of previously treated patients with platinum-resistant ovarian cancer. Korlym and the authorized generic serve the company's endocrinology business.

Profit grew faster than expenses

Quarterly GAAP operating income rose to $114.7 million from $41.3 million in June. Revenue increased by $84.3 million over that period, while operating expenses rose by $10.9 million. Net income reached $126.8 million, including a tax benefit.

One accounting detail helps explain the unusually low reported production cost. Corcept expensed Lifyorli manufacturing costs incurred before approval as research and development. Those earlier costs do not pass through the current quarter's cost of sales when that inventory is sold.

Cash generation also strengthened. Operating cash flow for the first nine months was $159.7 million, versus $103.5 million a year earlier. Cash and investments totaled $662.3 million at September 30.

The unchanged forecast leaves a wide final quarter

Corcept kept its annual revenue forecast at $1.1 billion to $1.2 billion, the range raised in July. It had already delivered the return to quarterly profitability that management predicted in April.

Our calculation shows that reaching the annual midpoint requires about $388.5 million of fourth-quarter sales, 14% above the September quarter. The low end requires roughly flat sales, while the high end requires a larger increase. These figures come from subtracting completed nine-month revenue from the annual range.

The next quarter will test whether both businesses keep contributing as the cancer launch expands. The Corcept company profile records the product comparisons, cash position and upcoming regulatory decisions.