Celgene posts 1st-qtr loss on Pharmion costs

US drugmaker Celgene reported a loss in first-quarter 2008 of $1.64 billion, $3.98 per share, versus a profit of $57.4 million, or $0.14 per share, in the comparable period last year, due to an after-tax in-process R&D charge of $1.74 billion associated with last year's $2.9 billion acquisition of Pharmion (Marketletter August 13, 2007), and a share-based employee compensation expense of $17.5 million.

Non-GAAP total revenue was $461.0 million, an increase of 57%, driven by a 96% surge in turnover of multiple myeloma drug Revlimid (lenalidomide) to $286.8 million, as net sales of recently-launched MM agent Thalomid (thalidomide) reached $113.9 million, while the oldest member of this disease franchise, Alkeran (melphalan and melphalan HCl), earned $15.1 million vs $16.0 million. Revenue from the attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder agents Focalin (dexmethyphenidate) and Ritalin (methylphenidate) totaled $25.9 million vs $19.8 million.