H Lundbeck's 2005 net profits down 6%

Danish pharmaceutical company H Lundbeck AS says that its net profits for 2005 were 1.59 billion Danish kroner ($259.5 million), a drop of 6% on the previous year. The firm attributes the decline to the impact of generic competitors on its product sales, revenue from which fell 7% to 9.07 billion kroner.

Despite these results, sales of the antidepressant Cipralex (escitalopram), the Alzheimer's disease drug Ebixa (memantine) and Azilect (rasagiline) amounted to 6.28 billion kroner, 69% of the firm's 2005 revenue. The company's generalized anxiety disorder treatment Lexapro (escitalopram), which it licenses to New York, USA-headquartered Forest Laboratories, earned Lundbeck 2.55 billion kroner, an increase of 5% on the revenue contribution it made in 2004.

The firm's supervisory board proposed to pay a dividend of 30% of its net profit for the year to shareholders, corresponding to 2.10 kroner per share. The company also says that it intends to further strengthen its product pipeline, beginning with the development of Lu AA24530.