OSI Pharma sees 2005 losses fall to $157.1M

US firm OSI Pharmaceuticals says its losses for the full year 2005 were $157.1 million compared with $268.6 million it lost during 2004. The company also reported that its revenue from product sales increased 298% to $174.2 million from $43.8 million it earned in the year-earlier period.

In the final quarter of 2005, OSI acquired fellow US company Eyetech Pharmaceuticals (Marketletter January 9), which the firm says is largely responsible for its increased revenue during the year. Eyetech achieved worldwide net sales of its anticancer drug Tarceva (erlotinib) and the age-related macular degeneration product Macugen (pegaptanib sodium injection) of $309.0 million and $185.0 million, respectively in 2005. In addition, OSI reported that Eyetech had received $7.0 million in royalty payments from Swiss major Roche arising from its co-development of Tarceva.

OSI also says that its operating expenses for 2005 were $337.5 million, up 10% on its outlay in 2004, which reflects the costs associated with increased investment in Eyetech's R&D activities, selling, general and administrative operations, during the period. Additionally, OSI's December 2005 private placement earned it $111.0 million.