Allergan posts big quarterly loss

Botox manufacturer, Allergan has announced a loss of $445 million (241.5 million pounds) in its quarterly figures, equivalent to the reduction of $3.29 per share. The company blames these losses on the costs of acquiring Inamed, where purchasing adjustments relating to Inamed’s research and design section were higher than expected.

The company also cited restructuring costs as it tried to streamline its research and development and commercial activities departments throughout Europe, as well as increased spending on promoting Botox in Japan with GlaxoSmithKline.

However, the company reported that pharmaceutical sales had increased by 22 per cent compared to the same period in 2005, or 24 per cent if excluding Japanese sales of Botox, where Glaxo shares development and marketing costs with Allergan.

David E. I. Pyott, Allergan’s chairman and chief executive, commented: “I am extremely pleased with the very strong sales growth across a broad range of products, regions and businesses in the first quarter, driven by our strong investments in sales and marketing programs as well as research and development.”

He added: “Furthermore, we are making excellent progress in integrating Inamed’s operations and are successfully establishing ourselves as the leading specialist company in medical aesthetics, providing a wide range of innovative products to plastic surgeons and dermatologists.”

Allergan said it expects its earnings per share for the next quarter to be between $0.82 and $0.84 and it has increased its sales target on the back of its Botox promotion deal with Glaxo. It added that it had raised the predicted total sales for 2006 to between $2.825 billion and $2.965 billion.

The company also noted that it expects its glaucoma drug, Ganfort, to be approved for use by the European Commission during the second quarter of this year.

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