UCB SA of Belgium has revised upward its 2011 revenue forecast following the solid performance of its core pharmaceuticals in the first nine months of the year and weaker than expected competition for the off-patent anti-epileptic, Keppra (levetiracetam).
MorphoSys AG said it is maintaining its guidance for an operating profit of €10 million to €13 million in 2011 despite a widening of its third-quarter operating loss. On 30 September, the company had cash of €143 million compared with €108.4 million on 31 December 2010.
Clavis Pharma ASA said that a new retrospective study has provided the evidence it needs to establish which patients are likely to benefit from treatment with its experimental compound for pancreatic cancer, CP-4126.
Ipsen SA expects that sales of drugs to specialist physicians will rise by about 8% in 2011 following an increase of nearly 6% in the first nine months of the year. The company expects to report an operating income for the year of between €190 and €200 million.
Novo Nordisk A/S produced significant gains in sales and earnings in the first nine months of 2011, mainly as a result of booming sales of Victoza (liraglutide) which was approved in Europe in July 2009 and in the US in January 2010.
AstraZeneca is raising its target for core earnings per share in 2011, but it expects that revenue will be flat or lower compared with 2010 as competition from generics and government healthcare reform exact a toll on sales.
Curetis AG of Germany has raised €9.6 million in additional Series A funding in order to support the development and registration of its molecular diagnostic technologies for the detection of infectious disease.
GlaxoSmithKline Plc has announced plans to raise its dividend by a further 6% to 17 pence per share and increase the size of its share repurchases following a third quarter in which reported sales and operating profit before restructuring both rose by 3%. The growth in underlying sales, which excludes pandemic influenza-related products, the antidiabetic, Avandia (rosiglitazone), and the antiviral, Valtrex (valaciclovir), was 6%, a somewhat faster pace than in the previous quarter.
A Phase 3 trial of the multi-kinase inhibitor, regorafenib, for patients with metastatic colorectal cancer has met its primary endpoint of a statistically significant improvement in overall survival, according to Onyx Pharmaceuticals Inc.
Citing the need to make further improvements in productivity, Novartis has announced plans to eliminate 2,000 jobs globally over the next three to five years and to close two manufacturing sites in Switzerland and one in Italy. The measures were announced with the group’s third-quarter earnings on 25 October 2011.