Vivus' 3rd-qtr profit drops 79% on R&D costs

US drug company Vivus' third-quarter net income plummetted almost 80% year-on-year to $266,000, or zero per share, falling short of analysts' expectations due to higher R&D spending on its obesity drug candidate.

Revenue during the period jumped 33.5% to $25.5 million thanks to the recognition of a further $6.9 million in deferred license revenue earned from last year's sale of the Evamist novel estrogen transdermal spray to KV Pharmaceuticals (Marketletter August 13, 2007). A Thomson Reuters analyst survey predicted earnings per share of $1 with $24.9 million in turnover.

Product revenues from the sale of erectile dysfunction drug Muse (alprostadil) totaled $4.4 million versus $5.0 million in the third quarter of 2007, due to fewer shipments to a European distributor.