Plavix sales help BMS into profit
pharmafile | January 29, 2009 | News story | Sales and Marketing |Â Â BMS, PlavixÂ
Strong fourth quarter sales of its blockbuster blood thinner Plavix have helped Bristol-Myers Squibb back into the black.
Net earnings in the last three months of 2008 reached $1.2 billion, reversing the net loss of $192 million posted in the same period in 2007.
Total sales at BMS rose 4% to $5.3bn, boosted by increasing income from BMS's best-selling brands – blood thinner Plavix and psychiatric drug Abilify .
BMS' reliance on Plavix was underlined by its fourth quarter sales, which at $1.5bn were more than twice as much as the $606m generated by the company's next best-selling drug Abilify.
Plavix, which is co-marketed with Sanofi-Aventis, faces a number of potential problems, including stiff competition from Lilly's prasugrel if that drug is granted FDA approval.
Plavix's patent position is another headache for the companies, but this should be safe until November 2011 after a US court upheld the patient covering the drug's active ingredient clopidogrel bisulphate.
Elsewhere in BMS' fourth quarter figures, sales of its Aids drug Sustiva rose 15% to $300m, hepatitis B treatment Baraclude was up 55% to $153m, and rheumatoid arthritis brand Orencia increased 72% to $129m.
But the company's cholesterol drug Pravachol wilted in the face of generic competition that pushed sales down by 70% to $27m.
Pharma net sales totaled $4.5bn and sales from its nutrition company Mead Johnson rose to $707m.
US pharma sales were up 13% to $2.8bn, while international sales fell 9% to $1.7bn – due in part to the strength of the dollar.
This year's figures also include a $582 million after-tax gain, which is mainly down to the sale of BMS' stake in ImClone to Lilly.
"In 2009, we expect to deliver on our promises to advance our innovative pipeline, execute our business development plans, grow margins and meet our productivity goals," said chief executive James Cornelius.
Research and development expenses increased by 29% to $1.1bn in the fourth quarter, primarily as a result of upfront and milestone payments to Exelixis last year.
Meanwhile a restructuring programme is expected to provide some cost savings. Last year BMS announced massive cuts to its workforce, and is expected to shed around 8,000 employees by 2010.
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