Almirall's nine-month profit jumps 5.3%

Leading Spanish drugmaker Almirall's net income in the first nine months of 2008 reached 132.6 million euros ($169.8 million), an increase of 5.3% year-on-year, as total revenue jumped 18.3% to 808.7 million euros.

Net sales expanded 16.1% to 685.2 million euros, thanks to last-year's $518.4 million acquisition of the European prescription dermatology business of Germany's Hermal (Marketletter July 23, 2007), which enabled the opening of new affiliates in Austria, Poland and the UK.

Almirall's earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization totalled 217.4 million euros, up 36.5%, largely due to the incorporation of new businesses and contributions from the North American partner Forest Laboratories for the development of aclidinium bromide. During the period (Marketletter September 15), shares in Almirall fell to a record low after the firm presented disappointing late-stage data showing that the chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder drug had an inferior profile to a rival product, Boehringer Ingelheim's Spiriva (tiotropium).