Manufacturing woes hit Schering-Plough

Fulfiling its profit warning earlier this year, Schering-Plough hasreported first-quarter 2001 diluted earnings per share down 10% at $0.38 on net income of $564 million, compared with $628 million in the like, 2000 period, as it tries to deal with manufacturing plant problems cited by the US Food and Drug Administration (Marketletters passim).

These difficulties also impacted sales, which declined 3% to $2.4 billion although, excluding currency exchange factors, the fall was just 1%. Most notable was the drop to just $3 million for Vancenase (beclomethasone dipropionate) Nasal Spray, down 94% from $56 million, and of its predecessor Vanceril (beclomethasone), turnover of which dropped 69% to $11 million.

Pharmaceutical turnover, also down 3%, totaled $1.9 billion, and the company notes that lower sales were recorded in all its major therapeutic categories except anti-infectives/cancer, where increases were registered. Nevertheless, in the latter sector, combined sales of Intron A (interferon alfa-2b), Peg-Intron (peginterferon alfa-2b), a longer-acting form of Intron A, and Rebetron combination therapy containing Intron A and Rebetol (ribavirin) totaled $326 million, down 3%.