Forest Laboratories sees growth in first quarter of 2011

Forest Laboratories has highlighted the positive growth trends it experienced during the first quarter of 2011 in its latest financial report.

The company's net sales total for the three months ending on March 31st 2011 came to $1.09 billion (658.77 million pounds), up by 9.7 percent on the year-ago period, with more than half of this total generated by its antidepressant Lexapro.

Improved sales were also seen for products such as Namenda, Bystolic and Savella, while its newest treatment Teflaro was also successfully launched during the quarter.

Howard Solomon, chairman and chief executive officer of Forest, also highlighted the promising nature of the company's product pipeline and its recent programme of strategic investments.

In the last week, for example, the firm acquired rights to a novel antiarrhythmic agent called azimilide, while completing its takeover of Clinical Data, the developer of the antidepressant treatment Viibryd.

Mr Solomon expressed confidence that investments of this kind will more than compensate for the imminent patent expiries for Lexapro and Namenda.