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Biotech / Medical : Pharma News Only (pfe,mrk,wla, sgp, ahp, bmy, lly) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Anthony Wong who wrote (1421)	2/10/1999 3:24:00 PM
From: Anthony Wong	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1722

Pharmacia's 4th-Qtr Profit Rises 29% on Newer Drugs (Update4) Bloomberg News February 10, 1999, 2:17 p.m. ET Pharmacia's 4th-Qtr Profit Rises 29% on Newer Drugs (Update4) (Adds analyst comment; updates share activity.) Bridgewater, New Jersey, Feb. 10 (Bloomberg) -- Pharmacia & Upjohn Inc., maker of the anti-baldness treatment Rogaine, said fourth-quarter profit rose 29 percent as it sold more of its newer drugs, such as Detrol, which prevents incontinence. The U.S.-Swedish drugmaker said profit from operations rose to $235 million, or 45 cents a share, from $183 million, or 35 cents, a year earlier. That matched the average estimate of analysts polled by First Call Corp. Sales rose 9 percent to $1.85 billion, boosted in part by an 88 percent increase in sales of Xalatan, its 2-year-old treatment for glaucoma. Many doctors favor the new medicine over cheaper generic rivals because Xalatan seems to work better, an analyst said. Pharmacia's Detrol also edged out generic medicines for the same reason, said James Keeney, an analyst with ABN Amro. ''It's an example of a drugmaker taking back markets by putting out better drugs,'' said Keeney, who has an ''outperform'' rating on Pharmacia. ''It's a greatly improved company.'' Pharmacia, based in Bridgewater, New Jersey, rose 2 to 54 3/4 in midafternoon trading. The sales increases are part of what Fred Hassan, Pharmacia's chief executive, calls the ''turnaround'' of the company. ''We remain confident of sustaining the turnaround and delivering another year of double-digit earnings growth in 1999, even as we continue to make very substantial investments to maximize the long-term value of our key products,'' Hassan said in a statement. Pharmacia struggled after it was formed by the 1995 merger of Sweden's Pharmacia and Upjohn of Kalamazoo, Michigan. The newer products have helped boost profit this year as sales of older products such as the contraceptive Depo-Provera slowed. Sales of Detrol, introduced in the U.S. last year, were $70 million. Sales of Xalatan were $104 million. Depo-Provera sales fell 7.5 percent to $53 million. Sales also increased for human growth hormone Genotropin in Japan. Pharmacia began selling the drug in Japan after ending a marketing agreement with Sumitomo Corp. Sales of Genotropin rose 78 percent to $120 million. In the quarter ended Dec. 31, charges of $98 million, or 19 cents a share, stemming from restructuring and the sale of a business gave it net income $137 million, or 26 cents. --Kerry Dooley in the Princeton newsroom (609) 279-4016