Amazingly, in view of the importance of this compound to them, still no PR from CAT. In the meantime, this will have to do -
CHICAGO, April 9 (Reuters) - Pharmaceutical and health-care products maker Abbott Laboratories (ABT, news) Inc. on Tuesday reported a first-quarter net profit, after a year-earlier net loss, helped by sales of medicines acquired through last year's purchase of drugmaker Knoll.
Abbott, which makes prostate treatment Flomax, HIV and AIDS drugs Kaletra and Norvir, and various diagnostic tests and nutritional products, also said it has filed for U.S. and European regulatory approval of D2E7, a potential blockbuster drug to treat rheumatoid arthritis.
Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. analyst Bruce Jacobs said the biggest news was the filing for D2E7, a Knoll product that Abbott expects will generate peak sales of more than $1 billion annually. He said the filing positions Abbott to get the product to market in early 2003.
Jacobs said Abbott's first-quarter results were solid -- "right in line with our aggregate estimates."...
Banc of America Securities analyst Ted Huber said Abbott's pharmaceutical performance was strong.
"They were a little light overall on revenues because of what looks like some weaker international performance in diagnostics and weaker hospital performance domestically," he said. "But they delivered the earnings per share people wanted. They reaffirmed the forward guidance and delivered a great piece of news with an early filing of one of their most important pipeline drugs."...
...POTENTIAL BLOCKBUSTER
Abbott, based in suburban Chicago, is banking on the success of D2E7 to drive future growth. "We are absolutely committed to making this product a commercial success," Leiden said. He expects regulatory approval within a year.... |
