Astellas sees solid fiscal 1st-qtr 2006

Japanese pharmaceutical major Astellas has reported a strong set of financial results for the nine-month period ending December 2005, due to the worldwide growth of its flagship products and through synergies from the April 2005 merger of its parent companies, Fujisawa and Yamanouchi (Marketletters passim).

During the period, turnover rose 1.8% year-on-year to 678.8 billion yen ($5.78 billion), achieving 76.7% of its full-year target. Operating income grew 8.4% to 182.8 billion yen, while net income leapt up 23.8% to 107.6 billion yen.

However, despite its healthy performance, the drug major has not altered its its full-year forecast in anticipation of the heavy R&D costs it expects to incur in the fourth fiscal quarter related to in-licensing activities.