B-MS 1st-qtr pharma sales up 8% at $3.7B

Bristol-Myers Squibb reported sales from continuing operations at $4.7billion, up 5% (or +8% excluding foreign exchange), for the first quarter of 2001, while net earnings increased 10% to $1.24 billion, and basic earnings per share were up 12% at $0.64. US pharmaceutical turnover increased 13% while international sales fell 4% (+4% excluding currency factors). Company chief executive Charles Heimbold says he feels comfortable with current consensus estimates of $2.41 for diluted EPS for the full year.

Type-2 diabetes therapy Glucophage (metformin) increased its strong franchise, rising 31% to $557 million, and sales of the cholesterol-lowering drug Pravachol (pravastatin) grew 10% to $507 million, while those of the platelet aggregation inhibitor Plavix (clopidogrel, co-marketed with Sanofi-Synthelabo) advanced 48% to $298 million, and BuSpar (buspirone) increased 25% to $203 million. On the negative side, turnover of the anticancer agent Taxol (paclitaxel) was down 4% at $330 million, with domestic sales dropping 28% to $179 million due to generic competition.

Nutritional sales decreased 1% to 502 million as international turnover rose 9%, while that in the USA declined 6%. Subsidiary Mead Johnson's infant formula Enfamil saw sales up 4% at $212 million.