Bristol-Myers posts 4th-quarter loss |
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Thu, 25 Jan 2007 14:18
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NEW YORK (AFX) - Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. said Thursday it lost $134 million in the fourth quarter compared with a year-ago profit, as sales of its best-selling drug Plavix plunged and it took a hefty charge to settle investigations into pricing policies.For the period, Bristol-Myers lost 7 cents a share, compared with net income of $499 million or 26 cents a share a year earlier. Excluding certain items, Bristol-Myers earned 19 cents a share, beating by 3 cents the consensus estimate of analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial.Last August, generic drug maker Apotex Inc. began selling a cheaper version of Plavix, a blood thinner Bristol-Myers co-markets with Sanofi-Aventis SA, after an agreement to settle a patent dispute fell apart. A judge issued an injunction forcing Apotex to stop selling the generic drug but it wasn't required to recall what was already in the market.Plavix sales sank 53 percent to $496 million from $1.06 billion.Overall revenue for the period fell to $4.2 billion from $5.02 billion.Bristol-Myers took a $353 million charge for reserves to pay $499 million to settle federal investigations into whether the company played a role in a pricing scheme that led insurers and government agencies to overpay for drugs.The New York-based drugmaker entered an agreement in principle with the Justice Department and the U.S. Attorney in Massachusetts to pay the settlement and avoid civil and criminal charges late last year.Earlier this week, the patent trial over Plavix began in New York City.Copyright 2006 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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