Forest Lab's 1st-qtr net revenues leap 15%

US drugmaker Forest Laboratories says that net revenues for its fiscal first quarter ended June 30, 2006, increased 15% to $816.3 million on the year-ago period. Net revenues were comprised of net sales, which were up 12% to $758,768,000 from $674.7 million. Net income, however, was down 7.4% at $200.6 million, with diluted earnings per share flat at $0.62. Excluding the $36.4 million one-time tax reversal from the year-ago period and the stock option expense in the current quarter, net income in the reported three months increased 15%, the company noted.

Sales in the quarter included $507.0 million from Lexapro (escitalopram oxalate), the firm's selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor for the treatment of depression and anxiety in adults, an increase of 10% from the year-ago period. Namenda (memantine), its N-methyl-D-aspartate-receptor antagonist for the treatment of moderate and severe Alzheimer's disease, recorded sales of $151.1 million during the quarter, growth of 32% from last year. Also included in net revenues was "other income" of $57.6 million, which comprises $41.7 million in earnings contribution from Forests' Benicar (olmesartan medoxomil) co-promotion agreement, an increase of 72%. The remaining component of other income was principally interest, it said.

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