B-MS's earnings hit $714M in 1st-qtr

USA-based drug major Bristol-Myers Squibb says that its first-quarter 2006 net earnings were $714.0 million, or $0.36 per share, up 32.7% compared with the same quarter last year, matching the estimates of analysts polled by Thompson Financial. The firm attributes its earnings growth in the period to a 3% increase in its net sales, which reached $4.70 billion.

Key products achieve double-digit growth

Company chief executive Peter Dolan said that all of the firm's key growth drivers had seen double-digit increases. Such products included: the platelet aggregation inhibitor Plavix (clopidogrel), co-developed with France's Sanofi-Aventis, which achieved sales of $986.0 million in the first three months of 2006; the antihypertensive agent Avapro/ Avalide (irbesartan and hydrochlorothiazide), also part of the firm's alliance with Sanofi-Aventis, which saw turnover of $233.0 million; Abilify (ariprazole), an antipsychotic drug used in the treatment of schizophrenia, acute bipolar mania and biopolar disorder, revenues from which increased 51% to $283.0 million; the HIV protease inhibitor Reyataz (atazanavir), which contributed $207.0 million in turnover; and the anticancer compound Erbitux (cetuximab), which yielded $138.0 million under the firm's marketing and distribution agreement with fellow US group ImClone.