B-MS swings to loss in 4th qtr due to Plavix

US drug major Bristol-Myers Squibb swung to a loss of $134.0 million, or $0.07 per share, in fourth-quarter 2006, from a profit of $499.0 million, or $0.26 per share, in the like, year-ago period.

The firm's reported deficit, which was less severe than analysts had predicted, was a result of generic competition for its blockbuster Plavix (clopidogrel), the blood-thinner it co-markets with French major Sanofi-Aventis. On August 31, 2006, the District Court of the Southern District of New York ruled that Canadian firm Apotex, which produces generic clopidogrel, must stop sales of the drug, but did not request that it recall supplies of the product which had already flooded the market (Marketletters passim).

Fourth-quarter 2006 net sales from continuing operations fell 16% to $4.2 billion. US net revenues decreased 26% to $2.1 billion, while international net turnover dropped 3%, including a 4% favorable foreign exchange impact, to $2.1 billion. During the period, cost of products sold, as a percentage of net sales, increased to 34.3% from 31.8%, primarily due to the unfavorable impact of the pharmaceutical net sales mix, including lower turnover of Plavix, as well as a reclassification of certain costs from marketing, selling and administrative expenses to cost of products sold.