Operating income up 21% at Kyowa Hakko

For the nine months from April 1 to December 31, 2007, net income at Japanese drugmaker Kyowa Hakko Kogyo was 24.0 billion yen ($225.4 million), or 60.55 yen per share, up 111.5% on the earnings achieved in the comparable period of its 2006 fiscal year. Operating income at the Tokyo-headquartered firm also improved, climbing 20.6% to 32.4 billion yen.

Navelbine drives pharmaceutical revenues

Sales for the period rose 11% to 297.0 billion yen, with an expanded contribution from key drug products such as Allelock (olopatadine HCl), Navelbine (vinorelbine) and the anti-allergic opthalmic solution Patanol (olopatadine) driving pharmaceutical sales. In contrast, turnover from the firm's hypertension treatment Coniel (benidipine) was down slightly for the period.