Daiichi Sankyo sees increase in 2005 income

Japanese firm Daiichi Sankyo says that it saw better-than-expected results for the first three quarters, April to December, the fiscal year 2005, due to stronger-than-estimated sales of some of its core products. The group achieved operating income of 134.4 billion yen ($1.14 billion), an increase of 5.0% on the same period in 2004. The company's net income slipped 0.4% to 81.0 billion yen, but was affected by extraordinary expenses and charges related to the merger.

Overall, the financial results from sales of Daiichi Sankyo products were mixed. As previously stated, several of the firm's products performed above estimates, these included: the angiotensin receptor blocker olmesartin, which is sold as Benicar in the USA and as Olmetec in Europe and Japan, which produced revenue of 18.9 billion yen from 6.9 billion yen in 2004; the company's antibacterial, Cravit (levofloxacin), which saw Japanese sales increase 11% to 40.2 billion yen; the anti-inflammatory Loxonin (loxoprofen), which edged up 3.2% to 22.7 billion yen; the COX2 inhibitor Mobic (meloxicam), that yielded 8.6 billion yen in revenue; and the anti-hypertensive agent Artist (carvedilol), which increased 16.9%, reaching sales of 14.5 billion yen.

Revenues from the firm's cholesterol-lowerer Mevalotin (pravastatin) fell 8.6%, due to increased competition from generics. Additionally, the company saw revenue from its anti-platelet agent Panaldine (ticlopidine) continue to lose ground, declining 1.3% to 23.2 billion yen.