Where Will Intercept Pharmaceuticals Be in 5 Years?

Intercept Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: ICPT) is in the enviable position of many biotech companies. It boasts a marketed drug on pace to deliver more than $200 million in sales for 2019 and is anticipating an upcoming decision from the Food and Drug Administration that could grant it the first approval for a disease with no approved treatment options.

Intercept markets Ocaliva for adults with primary biliary cholangitis (PBC), a condition that causes bile ducts in the liver to become inflamed and damaged. The damage impairs the liver's ability to function properly and can lead to life-threatening cirrhosis (permanent scarring of the liver) and liver cancer.  

While PBC is the drug's first approved indication, all eyes in biotech are trained on the second indication: fibrosis, or scarring, due to non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). NASH is caused by an excess of fat in the liver leading to inflammation, fibrosis, and eventually cirrhosis. Currently no NASH-specific therapies have been approved by the FDA. Intercept's Ocaliva could potentially change that.

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Source Fool.com