Overseas Sales Lift Synthelabo Nine Month Results

Synthelabo, which says it is France's third largest pharmaceutical group, achieved sales of 5.96 billion French francs ($1.26 billion) for the first nine months of 1994, an increase of 12.2% on a comparable basis.

Representing the bulk of the company's business, pharmaceutical sales, due to strong performances in markets outside France, rose 12.7% to 5.47 billion francs. Medical device sales rose 6.6% to 486.5 million francs.

Prescription medicine sales, which decreased 5.0% in France, climbed 32.7% abroad, the company says, as a result of the success of Stilnox (zolpidem) in the USA, the consolidation of Tiapridal (tiapride) sales and the successful launch of Kerlone (betoxolol) in Japan, as well as good results from European subsidiaries, notably in Germany, Italy and the UK. The company's seven strategic products, which accounted for 55.4% of Rx drug sales, were up 29.0%, it notes.