Culper Research short Axsome Therapeutics, sees shares ‘headed lower’

In a recently published report, Culper Research said it is short Axsome Therapeutics and sees shares “headed lower” as it believes the company’s “launch of Auvelity for major depressive disorder has been aided by undisclosed consignment deals with dodgy mail-order pharmacies that subvert prior authorizations, inflating script counts and reported revenues.” “In short, Axsome has simply not been paid for 43% of its reported Auvelity revenues since launch. Tellingly, Axsome dismissed its longtime auditor E&Y in June 2023, and in both of its past two annual reports, the Company disclosed critical audit matters related to revenue recognition,” the report reads. “We believe that to avoid this burden of PAs at standard pharmacies, Axsome has engaged in an undisclosed program that both consigns Auvelity to a network of dodgy mail-order pharmacies then steers prescriptions towards those pharmacies. These pharmacies then use Axsome’s copay cards to fill Auvelity prescriptions prior to even submitting the claim to payors, let alone obtaining an approved PA. This raises anti-kickback concerns, false claims concerns, and revenue recognition concerns, in our view.” Shares of Axsome have dropped about 8% to $66.01 in morning trading.