Daiichi Sales "Exceeding Targets"

October-December 1994 sales and profits at Japanese drugmaker Daiichi Pharmaceuticals are exceeding company targets, comment analysts at Lehman Bros. They say they believe that Daiichi's October through December prescription drug sales achieved 59% of the company's target for the second half of the fiscal year, while over-the-counter medicines reached 58% of the six-month target.

Favorable demand for the company's main drugs is seen as the major factor behind overall sales growth. The analysts believe that October/December sales of Cravit (levofloxacin) reached 11.5 billion yen ($115.3 million), or 70% of Daiichi's target for the second half, and Tarivid (ofloxacin), sales of which are declining due to competition from Cravit, achieved 65% of target.

Sales of the two types of non-ionic X-ray contrast media Omnipaque were mixed. Those of the vial-type, under pressure from a competing Eisai product, are languid, according to the analysts, who estimate overall sales will reach 12 billion yen (which is 59% of the six-month target).