argenx SE (ARGX) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary
June 8, 2021
Earnings Call Speaker Segments
Graig Suvannavejh
analystHi, good afternoon, everyone. Apologies for the technical delays, but welcome to the originally scheduled 2:10 session at the 42nd Annual Goldman Sachs Global Healthcare Conference. My name is Graig Suvannavejh. I cover both U.S. and European biopharma names here at the firm. It's my great pleasure to be hosting argenx today in a fireside chat. And with me, I'd like to welcome the company CEO, Tim Van Hauwermeiren; COO, Keith Woods; and Karl Gubitz, who was announced a week ago as the company's new CFO. So with that, I want to welcome the 3 of you, and thank you for your participation.
Tim Van Hauwermeiren
executiveThank you, Graig.
Graig Suvannavejh
analystSo for those who might be somewhat new to the argenx story, although I don't expect there to be very many. Tim, let me start with you. Could you perhaps just very briefly provide a description of who argenx is and what you believe are its core technologies or key areas of expertise?
Tim Van Hauwermeiren
executiveSure, Graig. So we're well on our way to build a global integrated immunology company. Global means we are very quickly now expanding our presence in Europe. Here in Boston in United States and in Tokyo in Japan. We also have a strategic alliance with our Chinese partner, Zai Lab, with the ambition to basically be present in all continents, I just mentioned, to commercialize our products. We're an integrated company because we're now ready to play in every step of the value chain. We have a powerful and very proliferative discovery engine. I think we've proven we have a very strong clinical execution and regulatory capability, but we're really now ready with our commercial infrastructure to go into the launch of efgartigimod here in the United States. We're aggressively building out our commercial capability in Japan and also in Europe. So we are very close to that final integration step, all on our way to become an independent and self-sustainable company. But the beating heart of the company is really innovation. And every year, in our existence, we have created a novel differentiated antibody pipeline assets. We will continue to do that. So we're building really a deep and rich pipeline. And without any doubt, today, we will be talking about the most advanced products, efgartigimod, which we think is a once-in-a-decade product opportunity. It's the type of asset which is building great biotech companies, but obviously, it's being followed by multiple other assets, which are upstream in the product pipeline.
Graig Suvannavejh
analystThank you very much. It was very concise. You announced in the news just yesterday, let's just go straight to that news. I mean I think you position the company as a global immunology company, but certainly you have an asset that was partnered with Janssen and there was some news on cusatuzumab, which is an anti-CD70 antibody. It looks as if perhaps you didn't meet the target product profile or perhaps you didn't achieve whatever J&J was looking for. Maybe you can discuss the news for those who perhaps haven't followed closely, what the latest developments with cusatuzumab are.
Tim Van Hauwermeiren
executiveYes. Look, Graig, I mean, whilst we're building this company, we're also very disciplined in the product portfolio that many of our assets, historical assets have been partnered. One of the more significant partnerships indeed was for cusatuzumab and oncology assets in the hands of J&J. The announcement yesterday was indeed that we're getting back the global rights to the molecule. We made a conscious decision back in 2018 to partner the molecule because we did not want to take it forward into AML with our own resources. We felt we wanted to focus on efgartigimod and the growing autoimmune pipeline. And we partnered what was then a Phase I assets with early clinical data. We partnered it for in total of USD 525 million. And what we get back is a Phase II asset with a full-blown CMC process behind it, and the data actually are not uninteresting. We understand this is a portfolio decision being made at J&J for their own good reasons. When we look at the merits of the data, it's early. We still need more mature data. But I think from a response point of view and a safety point of view, it looks like these data may have value in an AML treatment paradigm. And therefore, I think it's our obligation vis-à-vis the AML patient community to try and find a way forward for the molecule. Now just to set it straight, this will not happen under the argenx roof. We are completely concentrated and focused on growing this autoimmune pipeline and further accelerating the leadership, which we have in the FcRn class.
Graig Suvannavejh
analystYes. Thank you very much. And when you think about if it's not going to be perhaps grown within the company, strategic options would be to either try to repartner the asset, try to find perhaps -- I know you've spun out assets before. You've successfully done that. Are there other ranges of options that you could think of or we should be thinking about? And I know it's relatively fresh, but -- and with the focus clearly being efgartigimod, kind of how should we think about that asset going forward? Just kind of like it's there, don't expect much or is this something that's going to be, at least for your BD team, something to kind of prioritize?
Tim Van Hauwermeiren
executiveLook, Graig, with science-driven database, it's going to be a database decision. We're processing the data. I mean we felt the obligation to show some of these interim data in our press release. We think there is value in these data. Let them mature a little bit further because then I think we will see the full profile of the molecule. And you know that partnering and spinning off companies is actually in our DNA. We already have 3 spin-off companies because there is more opportunity than we can handle in-house. And we also have partnering in our DNA. So I think both paths you just paint are potential paths forward, but it's going to be data-driven.
Graig Suvannavejh
analystThank you. Let's quickly turn to efgartigimod and certainly, a lot of investor excitement about the potential of this aspect. You already have a BLA filed in the lead indication of myasthenia gravis. You've got late-stage clinical trials in 3 other indications. You've got an R&D Day coming up next month, I believe, July 20. You'll be announcing the fifth and sixth indications. Tell me at core, if you will, and there are other assets in this class. But why is this such a really unique mechanism of action?
Tim Van Hauwermeiren
executiveSo it goes back to the heart of how we discover and create pipeline assets. You know that we take pride in being good antibody engineers. I think we have top-notch technologies to build differentiated, hopefully, best-in-class antibody products. But the key to the success here is the immunology innovation program where we really team up with leading academics who master the translation of biology of the targets we get an interest in. And I would be lying if I would say that these assets could be built solely in-house. It's the principle of co-creation. Together, we build assets, which none of us could have created independently. That is true, especially for FcRn. If we would have done this all by ourselves, we would have just made a high-affinity monoclonal antibody against the target. But I think efgartigimod is much more than that. I think we're really leveraging the unique knowledge of Professor Sally Ward. She pioneered the pathway. We really understand that pathway up to the molecular level and that explains why efgartigimod is actually an Fc fragment, the natural ligand of the receptors equipped with very specific mutations, which are pH dependent in their binding affinity for the receptors. And therefore, this molecule has a unique PK/PD profile, which is now translating frankly speaking, in a very differentiated clinical profile from a safety and an efficacy point of view. And we believe we're also in pole position from a convenience point of view, thanks to the exclusive license, which we signed up with Halozyme. So I think this is a highly differentiated product playing in what I think is a very exciting space. You know there are more than 100 indications where we know the disease biology is driven by pathogenic IgGs. And we're just systematically taking on these indications. We're already playing in 6 indications, as you correctly alluded to. And for us, the name of the game is to go to 10 indications as fast as possible.
Graig Suvannavejh
analystOkay. Thank you very much for that. Myasthenia gravis, I know, Keith, you've been, in particular, been very involved in pre-commercialization activities. Could you give us an update? Obviously, there's a potential for a launch within the next 12 months, let's just call it that -- or let's hope so, but what are the key activities that are happening right now? And what's still left to do to help you feel that you're launching optimally?
R. Woods
executiveYes, Graig, thanks for the question. So as you mentioned, we have filed the BLA. We have acceptance of the BLA. We continue to meet with the regulatory bodies, and we have a PDUFA date of December 17 this year. We fully expect to move forward with the launch. It's exciting because we have a highly differentiated proposition that's yet to be seen in this MG space. If you look at the ADAPT Phase III clinical trial, between cycle 1 and cycle 2, the bottom line is 80% of patients, almost 80% of patients that are exposed to efgartigimod get a clinically meaningful response. What's also special about that is that about 85% of them get that response within the first 2 doses. So it works well and it works fast. And I think what ultimately will be the ultimate measure in efficacy is the number of patients you can drive to minimal symptom expression. So MG-ADL of 0 or 1, meaning a patient basically is walking around symptom-free, and we think about 2/3 of all responders can get there. You combine that with a safety data profile, and it makes it easier to attract strong commercial people to launch this product. And that's basically what we're up to right now. We've been expanding the team. We currently have 71 sales positions posted. Our Regional Business Directors are hired, Head of Sales, full market access team, our thought leader liaisons, our medical affairs team, now our case management team has been fully identified with half of them on board and the other half starting in July. Bottom line, Graig, is from a personnel point of view, we'll have 100% of people on board by August 1, so we'll be well prepared for our launch.
Graig Suvannavejh
analystAnd with that PDUFA in mind, how are your engagements with payers, in particular? How is that going? When did you start that process? What's the feedback so far?
R. Woods
executiveYes. With the full team, we've been able to meet with not only the national payers, but also several regional payers. The first round of meetings that we had, it was more speaking in general and getting to know them and talk about myasthenia gravis and what basic policies they have in place. Now we get to get a little bit more into the data and potentially into the positioning of how efgartigimod could be used and what their thoughts are on there. Overall, I see the reactions going quite positive. I think that there's such unmet medical need in MG. You see a product like Soliris that has a substantially higher cost that is really getting good coverage. So I'm optimistic that we'll see the same with efgartigimod.
Graig Suvannavejh
analystOkay. Great. And then as it relates to your ability to engage with prescribing physicians, obviously, we've been in a pandemic world. What is your level of engagement been able to look like? And now that it seems as if, fingers crossed, that we have pandemic-related restrictions lifting, how helpful or not is the current environment?
R. Woods
executiveYes. So I mean, first of all, I think there's an accidental benefit of a PDUFA date in December because, as you mentioned, it does appear as the 3 of us are now in a conference room together, that you do see a little bit more opening up of America. And we think that truly -- provided there's not another outbreak, we should be in a situation where we can launch partially virtual and partially in-person. And this is great because the health care professionals really want the optionality. They've said it. Some of them are looking forward to coming and meeting in-person. Others have said we'll continue on virtual education. And we believe this is going to be absolutely key. This is a first-in-class mechanism of action, which you have a very small number of neurologists that have actually touched this molecule and infused a patient with it and seen the reaction, our clinical trial physicians. And so there is going to be a massive educational effort that will need to take place after we have approval. Right now, we can only focus on disease state education because we cannot go out and do mass promotion on a mechanism of action, it would be viewed as prepromotion.
Graig Suvannavejh
analystSo is it fair to assume -- and I think I've heard you say this on a number of public speaking occasions that perhaps if we were to think about the uptake curve and the launch of the product, it seems as if perhaps a more gradual launch might be better as a base case. And obviously, with the hope that perhaps it's better than gradual, but versus something that is flying off the shelves right away despite the great profile that many of us think efgartigimod has.
R. Woods
executiveYes. Graig, I'd have to agree with that because I do think we'll be more gradual, more consistent because at the end of the day, about 100-plus advisers that we have that are neurologists around the globe -- when we speak to them, it's quite optimistic, but you have to realize, our people are going to have to get to over 6,000 neurologists in the U.S. for the launch alone. So we're barely scratching the surface. We will need to spend that time educating on, as I mentioned, a mechanism of action, which isn't taught in medical school and they're not familiar with. So give us time. I shared with you the data from the ADAPT Phase III. So ultimately, I believe the launch will be successful. It will just be gradual and consistent, as we apply for our J code, as we go through the reimbursement appeals and get the process ironed out.
Graig Suvannavejh
analystI know that's a part of the efgartigimod strategy in MG, in particular, is also looking beyond the U.S. and you've identified a number of key territories. How are preparations ex U.S. going right now and what's the status?
R. Woods
executiveYes. So we prioritize the order of U.S. first, followed by Japan and then by Europe. Really pleased to tell you that we did file with the PMDA. That file has been accepted, and we continue to work with PMDA and advance that forward. We would expect that we will have approval in first half of 2022 in Japan. With that being said, we are in a hiring mode in Japan. Right now, we have 15 colleagues, and we'll be taking that number up to 57 by the end of this year. We most recently hired our national sales director, 2 of our 3 regional business directors and we have our sales positions already posted in Japan. I can tell you that the demand has been quite exceptional for talent to want to join argenx, both here in the U.S. with a number of CVs, but we're seeing the exact same thing in Japan. The same with Europe, where we hired our General Manager of EMEA. He's made great progress by hiring his European leadership team, already have onboarded our Germany Managing Director as well as our Managing Director in France. We've also got Head of Medical Affairs, Head of Market Access Europe, a number of strategic positions. So great progress taking place in Europe as well. We expect to file market authorization in the second half of 2021. And therefore, we should be commercializing over in Europe, starting in Germany, probably second half 2022, if all goes positive.
Graig Suvannavejh
analystGreat. There's so much to get through with your company. So apologies if I'm going to run through it as quickly as I can. You've also got a subcutaneous formulation strategy that, Tim, you mentioned that you've got a partnership with Halozyme. How do we think about that opportunity? And how do we think about it as part of the overall, at least, in MG franchise? And should that -- the share of a subcu versus an IV be the same in MG versus perhaps the other 3 indications and the other fifth and sixth indication down the line? Or obviously, for each disease, is it very specific to that disease?
Tim Van Hauwermeiren
executiveI think, Graig, the exclusive access for FcRn to the Halozyme technology has been one of our winning moves because this is basically resetting the rules of the game for delivering bigger volumes of biologics under the skin, right? I mean this is basically enabling a fast, let's say, 30 seconds single push under the skin of efgartigimod regardless the indication where we would play. So this is a key differentiating factor going forward. You see that in all indications, which are public that subcu product is actually in play. The vision is to be in the United States on the market with both IV and subcu products because there are different preferences not just from a patient point of view, but also from a physician and a payer point of view. So you really want to serve your market as completely as you can. It could be that subcu becomes relatively more important in the territories outside of the United States, but that remains to be seen. So I think the subcu product execution is a key differentiating factor for efgartigimod.
Graig Suvannavejh
analystAnd what's the current status? Where are we in terms of the development of that subcu formulation? When could we see the next announcement of results and what that looks like?
Tim Van Hauwermeiren
executiveYou know that we're pretty innovative in the way we try to design our clinical trials. And I think we were very pleased by the outcome of the FDA interaction where we proposed the bridging study to bridge from the IV product to the subcu product without having to redo a full-blown Phase III clinical trial. Thanks to the unique correlation between the knockdown in IgGs on the one hand and the clinical benefit in our MG patients on the other hand, we could convince the FDA to allow us to bridge just on an equivalent IgG reduction. So this is pretty innovative to have as a primary end point of PD effect, and that's only possible because we have this unique mode of action. So this is going to be a relatively short trial because we have a maximum PD effect after just 4 administrations. The rate-limiting fact for the subcu bridging study will be the size of the safety database. So we agreed with the FDA on a minimum number of patients with a minimum duration of exposure. That's what we're working on. And there, the rate limiting step, of course, will be how fast we can get these patients on study. And remember, we're still in a COVID environment. So very difficult to tell you with certainty when that study would be finished. But the vision is to be first to market in MG with that product. And this is, next to the launch, our second most important priority.
Graig Suvannavejh
analystThank you for that. Now obviously, pipeline and product potential for efgartigimod -- we'll probably don't nearly have enough time to talk about the potential in ITP, PV and CIDP. But maybe I'll leave it up to you just to help us think about those 3 other indications and the opportunity you see.
Tim Van Hauwermeiren
executiveI can give you the executive summary for the sake of time. Look, in ITP, it's a trial and error game where whatever product you try, your long-term success rate is around 30%. So patients are yo-yo-ing between treatments all the time. In the Phase II study, where we exposed a pretty refractory ITP patient population, only 3 weeks to efgartigimod, we had a 46% to 67% response rate, okay? That is quite impressive. And in pemphigus, we've shown that the vast majority of patients go very rapidly in disease control. That means we are closing the skin and then very rapidly into complete response, that means we're healing the skin. You can see no longer lesions. And that rapidity of onset of action, the depth of response is basically a game changer in pemphigus patients. In CIDP, of course, we're looking at blinded data because this is a registrational trial from the get-go. But from a statistical point of view, we do know that in the first 30 patients, we surpassed the go/no-go bar. We do know that the signal we have seen is way beyond what you would expect from a placebo. And therefore, this is validating that this disease is mediated by pathogenic IgGs. And actually, we're taking that product forward to end of Phase III as fast as we can.
Graig Suvannavejh
analystAnd it's hard to keep track of all the different trials that you've got ongoing. But can you sequence for us perhaps like expected readouts across those 3 particular indications?
Tim Van Hauwermeiren
executiveIt is a bit too early to tell, Graig. But you're right. I mean there's a lot of stuff ongoing. We have 2 global registration trials ongoing in ITP. We will inform you when these studies are fully enrolled. We have a global registration trial ongoing in pemphigus and a global registration trial ongoing in CIDP. We have the bridging study going on for MG subcu. And during the July 20 R&D Day, we will unveil indication 5 and 6, where again, we have the ambition to start enrollment as fast as we can. So soon, we will be in 6 indications. We're running 7 global trials.
Graig Suvannavejh
analystOkay. It's quite impressive. So with that, now there's also been outside of argenx, some very interesting competitive landscape developments. And I think most recently, we've seen news from Immunovant and perhaps some issues that they've had with their FcRn. We know that there's been perhaps a halting of the CIDP program for the UCB FcRn. But with that said, it seems as if things are moving in a direction that seems to be helping argenx out tremendously. But maybe a question just as it relates to the albumin issue for Immunovant. What do you read? What do you take away from what Immunovant had to announce?
Tim Van Hauwermeiren
executiveI think it is in line with our expectations. So I think we always told you that not all assurance are created equal. I think we do understand, at a molecular level, what makes efgartigimod so unique. And I think we will elaborate that in our R&D Day on July 20. I think we've done some very convincing microscopy work where you follow the fate of efgartigimod in complex with FcRn. And you can really see that it nicely resides in the recycling loop. It's not going down the degradation path. And therefore, it's keeping that normal nonrecycling loop intact also for albumin. So FcRn is around, it's heavily recycling with efgartigimod bound on it, but it caters for serum albumin -- it enables serum albumin to also recycle. So that's a unique molecular design, a unique fit intracellularly, and it nicely translates, I think, in a differentiated clinical profile, of course, from a safety point of view, but also from an efficacy point of view. So I think you're right, the more data pop up, the clearer the differentiation is crystallizing.
Graig Suvannavejh
analystAnd there was also an issue with regards to that Immunovant compound with cholesterol levels. And could you just remind us kind of the profile for efgartigimod as it relates to whether it's cholesterol or any other side effect that you might be hearing investors worried about would be helpful.
Tim Van Hauwermeiren
executiveYes. So the first thing we should certainly not do is talk about class effects because they do not exist in the FcRn class. All molecules are quite different. I think we're the only FcRn player with such a vast safety database. We now have more than 150 people who have enjoyed efgartigimod for a year or longer. All the data are with the FDA in the BLA. We haven't seen any changes in lab values like LDL or HDL or cholesterol. We do not see any reduction in serum albumin levels, and we think they are linked, in fact. So I think the data are all in the BLA, and they basically underscore the fact that efgartigimod has a very clean safety profile. So that's boding well.
Graig Suvannavejh
analystThank you very much for that. Beyond, I think, if I heard you say this earlier that your goal is to get efgartigimod in 10 indications as quickly as possible and with a view that perhaps there are potentially 100-plus indications. Certainly, that brings to mind on the financial side how you might think about pursuing all of that. And so not to put Karl on the spot right away since he just joined, but is it realistic -- is it -- to think that argenx as a company would want to develop efgartigimod in as many places as possible and just see if this can be another HUMIRA type of product or KEYTRUDA type of product where the more indications you have, certainly, the more revenue an asset like efgartigimod could generate?
Tim Van Hauwermeiren
executiveLet me maybe start with the answers, and then I will hand over to Karl to add on that. Clearly, it's our ambition to go for the broadest label possible. But the underlying business model needs to make sense, right? I think that's why early on, we are starting to streamline the pipeline into key commercial franchises. And commercialization is expensive, it only pays off for the shareholders if we can leverage the same infrastructure again and again and again across multiple indications and, ideally, even multiple molecules. So I think there needs to be some model behind how we take on all that opportunity. Our business model so far is to focus on neuromuscular franchise, a heme franchise, skin franchise and to stick in the orphan business model, which, frankly speaking, hasn't been so unsuccessful for biotech companies. I think we have seen more successes than failures in the orphan space. And I think there's plenty of work in the orphan space for us to go and create tremendous shareholder value. And I don't know, Karl, whether you want to comment on the balance sheet and the plans.
Karl Gubitz
executiveI think this is a great opportunity, but I think we're focusing on the 10 indications now, and we'll execute. And I think that's a priority, execution.
R. Woods
executiveYes. If I could just add something, it's the fact that we will continue to be focused on patients. So physicians come to us with areas that it would make sense for an FcRn, for efgartigimod, but it might not make sense on the business side, that's where we're willing to listen to investigated initiated trials, externally sponsored research, which may not lead to an indication but could lead to a publication in a peer-reviewed journal that could lead to compendia listing, similar to what you see with many of the utilizations of IVIg today.
Graig Suvannavejh
analystThank you for that. We've got about 5 minutes left, unfortunately. But maybe I can move away from efgartigimod and to the rest of your pipeline. And I think investors often lose sight of the fact that despite the news with cusatuzumab yesterday, you have a very large pipeline that you probably don't get value for and whether because it's partnered with others, whether they're earlier stage, but certainly, you started making a lot of more noise about your 117 compound, which is a C2 inhibitor. We don't see too many C2 inhibitors. We see C1, C3, C5. Can you maybe just tell us the opportunity you see by going after C2?
Tim Van Hauwermeiren
executiveYou're right about the pipeline, Graig, if I may comment on that one first. So historically, we had been partnering a number of assets. Most of them actually continue to make progress in the hands of the partners. But going forward, the vision is really to build molecules, which we can take forward to create value for our shareholders and not for somebody else's shareholders. That's what we're going to do. That's where 117 actually fits squarely in that vision. It's a novel target. It's an ultra-differentiated product from a molecular design point of view. And again, there is a whole series of indications where we think the molecule can play, several of which actually will fit into key franchises. So C2 is a very interesting point of intervention in the complement cascades. I mean if you have the ambition to be an autoimmune player, we now have a molecule with efgartigimod, which can play in the adaptive immune response. With complement, we have a molecule, which can play in the innate's immune response. And the more we learn about complement, the more we really understand how important it is in some of the severe autoimmune diseases. So C2 is a very interesting point of intervention. Of course, we're going to be first. That's the hallmark of our molecules. But it's sitting at a junction of the classical and the lectin pathway. So if you broke C2, you really broke the 2 pathways at the beginning of the cascade. You do not touch the alternative pathway, which we know is very important for protection against pathogen infection. So if you now start to look at disease indications, where the classical and/or the lectin pathway are in play, there's a very nice list of indications. The first one we have public on is MMN, multifocal motor neuropathy. That is an indication where we understand the disease biology quite well, thanks to our IIP collaboration with some of the top experts in the world. It's an indication which makes us think of CIDP from a clinical presentation point of view, clinical trial feasibility point of view, but also commercial opportunity. And I think, Keith, it's going to fit squarely into the neuromuscular franchise, right?
R. Woods
executiveAnd the market research we've done so far is the exact same physicians that treat CIDP, that treat these MMN patients. So no additional expense in adding people, but yet we get to serve yet another population.
Graig Suvannavejh
analystAnd I believe you've got Phase I data that are expected relatively soon, midyear, I believe. That's Phase I in nature. What should we expect to see from that? Or what are you hoping to show us with that data?
Tim Van Hauwermeiren
executiveYes. It's the first time 117 comes on deck with clinical data. It's a very robust Phase I data set. SAD/MAD, both IV and subcu. You may remember, we triggered an exclusive license on C2 with Halozyme, too. So we're going to show you a pretty robust classical Phase I data set. But what I would think is also something to look out for will be the biomarkers and the PD profile. So complement is a great system to study because we can basically follow certain biomarkers, including free C2, which gives you a clue on how you may go about dosing this molecule in your Phase II proof-of-concept study. So I expect a classical Phase I data set and then some upsides in terms of what have we seen from a biomarker point of view guiding us into the Phase II dosing regimen.
Graig Suvannavejh
analystOkay. Thank you for that. Maybe with a minute or 2 that we have left together, maybe if we can just do some housekeeping questions in terms of cash, where you stand with cash right now. You've been quite opportunistic with equity capital raises over the past several years. And understandably, you've got lots of things that you need to pay for in terms of R&D and commercialization. But can you remind us where you are in cash? What your '21 guidance is? And how you would discuss your -- perhaps your cash runway?
Karl Gubitz
executiveSo at the moment, we've got around $3 billion of cash. And so I mean, that will take us through post launch and the bid. So we'll give you an update at the next earnings.
Tim Van Hauwermeiren
executiveSo thank you, Karl. Very solid cash position. We're in a position of strength, Graig. We're not giving guidance on runway, not yet. But I think if we go to the global vision for this company, remember what we said at the onset of the meeting, right, we're building this independent sustainable biotech company. So we're on our way, hopefully, to break even by starting to make revenue. And I think the $3 billion cash position is positioning us very well to get into launch and hopefully be able to launch.
Graig Suvannavejh
analystThank you. And maybe knowing that you've got an R&D Day coming up on July 20, that's probably the next thing that we'll all be very focused on. But Tim, if I could leave you perhaps with one last kind of bigger picture question. If you take a look into your crystal ball and want to see argenx in a certain place 5 years from now, what kind of place would that be? What would the company look like?
Tim Van Hauwermeiren
executiveGraig, we have the aspiration to become one of these few, these rare biopharma companies, which made it all the way and basically continue to excel in innovation and shareholder value creation to the benefit of the patient. And I do believe that we're in a unique position. I think we have great molecules which work. I think -- I repeat what I said, efgartigimod is a type of asset which builds great companies. We are also paying attention to the pipeline, so there is much more coming behind efgartigimod. I'm very optimistic about the talent which we can attract. I think the commercial talents coming to the company to help us shoulder the launch across the different continents is pretty impressive. And I think we have the blessing of a very solid shareholder base, entrusting us the cash, which we have on the balance sheet to go and execute a stand-alone business plan. So I think the cards we have in our hands are strong, and we're going to continue to execute by 2025. We would like to be the role model for other biotech companies, which dream about becoming an independent, successful biotech company.
Graig Suvannavejh
analystOkay. It's a great vision, one that many companies hope to achieve. You're very close to that. So with that, we look forward to continue your progress on that journey. And I want to thank the 3 of you again for your participation. And thank you, the viewers who joined on our fireside chat. Thank you. Have a great rest of your day and great rest of the conference. Take care.
Tim Van Hauwermeiren
executiveThanks for having us, Graig. Thank you.
R. Woods
executiveThank you, Graig.
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