Thanks for the outreach. I saw this and wondered what is going on with LCI. They still have IR 5mg tabs and XR 5mg capsules as products on their site, but what matters is, as you indicate, they are discontinued according to the Orange Book. At the least, this is a question for Nasrat on the next CC. But, what type of question? Here are data points to consider...
* LCI needs revenue and they have sure fire revenues with Elite's products, this when there is high demand for their partner's products (a partner that gets the DEA quota).
* Their partnership with Elite extends to other drugs and LCI would know what Elite is working on, to some extent, and it could add to their revenues if the partnership continues.
* Elite is in a better position to re-negotiate a new deal both with their products under development and with the prospect of being a bigger supplier to LCI.
* Elite benefits by maintaining a distribution network that is already in position and both LCI and Elite benefit from the increased demand and likely an inflationary pricing that would be tied to demand (as per the law of supply and demand).
* It appears to me that, given their situation, LCI needs Elite more than Elite needs LCI because, with more volume and more products, Elite would be an attractive partner for another firm.
* The hiring of Kirkov still makes sense and more so with the additional products under development. Up to this point, who is spending the time making sure the distribution is done well? With more products comes more complexity of operations. Having Kirkov and LCI both make sense.
* If Elite was interested in a new partnership with LCI, they would have asked for LCI to discontinue those products as a sign of good faith.
Thoughts?
