It's been an absolute banner year so far for Questcor Pharmaceuticals Inc. (QCOR) whose share price is up more than 180 percent year to date at $41.35. We profiled this stock last November when it was trading around $14. Since then, it has enjoyed a good rally making new all time highs.
The key driver of the stock price has been the growing sales of the company's flagship product H.P. Acthar Gel, also called Acthar, a repository corticotropin injection.
Acthar is an injectable drug that is approved by the FDA for the treatment of 19 indications. Of these 19 indications, Questcor currently generates substantially all of its net sales from three indications namely, the treatment of acute exacerbations of multiple sclerosis in adults, the treatment of nephrotic syndrome, and the treatment of infantile spasms in children under two years of age. The drug is dispensed to Medicaid rebate-eligible patients, Federal government organizations including the Veterans Administration and government health coverage program called Tricare.
After a down year for Acthar in 2009 with sales falling 7 percent to $87.6 million, things have been going wonderfully. Thanks to the growing demand for the drug coupled with an increase in its sales price, further helped by a reduction in the per vial rebate liability for both Medicaid and Tricare and a reduction in the number of Medicaid fee for service prescriptions.
In 2010, net sales of Acthar were up 31% to $114.7 million. In the nine months ended September 30, 2011, net sales of the drug totaled $142.3 million compared to $85.5 million during the same period in 2010.
Besides penetrating an existing market, expanding a drug's market base is one surefire way to boost its sales, and that is what Questcor is mulling too.
Having been approved for the treatment of 19 indications, systemic lupus erythematosus, or SLE, is the next targeted therapeutic area, which the company is exploring for Acthar. Not only that, examining the possibility of developing markets for other on-label indications and the possibility of pursuing FDA approval of additional indications not currently on the Acthar label, where there is high unmet medical need, are also on the company's agenda.
Questcor is scheduled to present new data on Acthar in November at the American Society of Nephrology Annual Meeting. This data is believed to provide further insight into the immune-modulating and other therapeutic properties of Acthar specifically relating to kidney disease.
After all, Acthar is effectively a pipeline in itself, according to Questcor! But also be aware that a disappointment in Acthar's sales could send the stock price lower... quickly.
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June 05, 2026 16:18 ET A busy week for economic news flow saw a slew of reports being released that reflected the trends in the U.S. labor market. In Europe, economic growth and inflation data gained attention as the European Central Bank and Bank of England head for policy session later in the month. In Asia, the monetary policy session of the Indian central bank was in focus as the country, a major oil importer, reels under the pressures of a weaker rupee and rising inflation.