AstraZeneca 2007 profits sag
LONDON AstraZeneca said its net profit fell 7.2 percent last year to US$5.63 billion, owing partly to a major restructuring. Pretax profits also slid 6.5 percent to US$7.98 billion despite an 11.6-percent climb in revenue to US$29.56 billion. Faced with soaring costs, AstraZeneca unveiled plans last year to slash 7,600 jobs by 2010. The group is also facing increased competition from generic drugs. "I am confident that we are taking the right steps to better position AstraZeneca as we, and the industry, encounter increasingly challenging market conditions," said chief executive David Brennan. In the fourth quarter alone, AstraZeneca said net profit tumbled 11.8 percent from a year earlier to US$1.28 billion. The group booked restructuring costs of US$362 million in the last quarter of 2007, which was slightly more than predicted and contributed to the fall in profits. AstraZeneca's major products put in a mixed performance in 2007. Sales of heartburn treatment Nexium fell two percent to US$5.22 billion but Seroquel fared better, with sales rising 15 percent to US$4.03 billion. Crestor sales rocketed by a third to US$2.8 billion. Profits were also hit by the cost of AstraZeneca's acquisition of US biotechnology company MedImmune for US$15.6 billion last year. M AFP
BASEL, Switzerland Novartis announced a 66-percent rise in net profits in 2007 to US$11.97 billion, but said it expected a tough first quarter this year due to stiff competition from generics. Discounting exceptional items the results were not so positive, with net profit down four percent to US$6.54 billion. A 58-percent jump in operating profit to US$12.93 billion turns into an 11-percent slide to US$6.78 billion. Novartis was hit not only by increasing competition from generics in 2007, but had to withdraw several of its products, prompting the company to launch a restructuring plan in December that envisages savings of US$1.6 billion a year from 2010 and 2,500 layoffs. The negative impact was particularly felt in the pharmaceutical sector, the core of the group's activities, where sales grew only six percent to US$24 billion. Sales in the United States were down eight percent after the suspension of Zelnorm and the loss of patents on Lotrel, Lamisil, Trileptal, and Famvir. The five drugs achieved sales of US$3.1 billion in 2006, against US$1.7 billion in 2007. The vaccines division registered solid growth of 52 percent at US$1.5 billion, largely thanks to seasonal flu vaccine. Sandoz, Novartis's generic subsidiary, achieved strong growth in the US and Eastern Europe, jumping 20 percent to US$7.2 billion. Meanwhile, Novartis announced it would extend its collaboration with Germany's Morphosys on biological therapies based on antibodies. The two companies aim to discover and produce antibodies designed to target the source of several illnesses. M AFP
TOKYO A Japanese company will soon start advising people what they should eat and how they should exercise based on custom-made analysis of their genes, in what the firm says is a world first service. Signpost Corp, which will launch the service in April in Japan, will also assess risks of a heart attack and stroke while telling a customer how likely he or she is to suffer kidney and sight problems if hit by diabetes. "Genes can tell various health risks ... such as if you are prone to be obese or tend to have problems with your blood vessels," said Nana Ozaki, Signpost business planning official. Anyone who wants to have the service would go to a hospital to give five milliliters of blood for analysis of some 60 genes. The customer would also list his or her height, weight, and dietary habits. The results will come in 30 to 45 days through a doctor or other experts, Ozaki said. The service will cost several hundred dollars. Signpost is a start-up company set up by researchers affiliated with state-run Osaka University. It has already been offering genetic examination to assess risks for hardening of the arteries or complications from diabetes, attracting several hundred people since its launch in December 2005. M AFP
LONDON GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) said its net profits fell in 2007 due to disappointing sales of the diabetes drug rosiglitazone (Avandia) and increased competition from generic manufacturers. Net profit dropped 3.2 percent to US$10.1 billion last year, compared with US$10.44 billion in 2006. Revenue sank 2.2 percent to US$44 billion, pulled lower as Avandia sales tumbled to US$1.94 billion, down from US$3.1 billion in 2006. "In 2008, GSK expects that the impact of lower Avandia sales together with increased generic competition will lead to a mid-single- digit percentage decline in ... earnings per share," the company said. "The decline in Avandia sales, together with increased generic competition in the United States, will adversely impact our earnings in 2008, but looking ahead we remain confident in GSK's future," added retiring chief executive Jean-Pierre Garnier. Demand for Avandia tumbled last year after US medical journals concluded that the drug significantly increased the risk of heart attack and cardiovascular problems. The US Food and Drug Administration required a label to be put on Avandia, and similar treatments, warning of increased risk of heart failure. GSK had already stated that the full extent of Avandia's sales fall will not be known until the end of the second quarter of 2008. Andrew Witty, head of GSK Pharmaceuticals Europe, will succeed Garnier who is retiring in May. M AFP
Philips Medical Systems, with the help of Netherlands' Official Development Program, provides five specialist medical centers in the country the latest medical equipment for diagnosing and treating chronic diseases of the heart, lungs, and kidney as part of the Health Sector Reform Agenda of the Department of Health (DOH). This has helped make the latest advances particularly in cardiovascular care and medicine accessible to more Filipinos particularly those in the rural areas. The donor-financed health-care program is called the ORET (Otewikkelings Relevante Export Transacties or Development-Related Export Transactions). Under the seven-year project, Philips Medical Systems supplies local government hospitals with medical equipment and related services to enhance the delivery of health-care services in the country. The project created a center of excellence in cardiovascular care at the Philippine Heart Center (PHC) with satellite heart centers in the Bicol Regional Teaching and Training Center, Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center in Cebu, Davao Medical Center, and Northern Mindanao Medical Center in Cagayan de Oro. Philips's most sophisticated diagnostic-imaging equipment were installed at PHC, including a 1.5T magnetic resonance imaging scanner with cardiac module, 40-Slice CT scanner, Angiography Allura Xper FD10 single plane CathLabs, and a FD20/20 biplane Cathlab. A dual-head Forte Gamma camera, X-ray imaging systems, ultrasound, and mobile C-Arm system are provided all interconnected via the EasyWeb system. Launched in June last year, the EasyWeb is a PhP1.5 billion online referral and diagnosis program that allows remote hospitals to have online collaboration, consultation, and teleconferencing with expert doctors from the PHC. It connects the four satellite hospitals to the PHC using broadband technology to enable online conference and collaboration among doctors of the five holspitals for quick diagnosis and formulation of the appropriate treatment strategy. "Philips is committed to supporting the [PHC's] ongoing improvements. Through our partnership with the center, we are also able to deliver our pledge as an organization to make health-care accessible to all," said Elipidio Soriano, Philips general manager for medical division. The project has helped lower treatment costs for patients while the online referral and diagnosis have also eliminated the necessity of transporting patients over long distances. M Gayleen Caballero
Cardinal Santos Medical Center (CSMC) recently opened its Brain and Spine Tumor Center, which boasts of state-of-the-art equipment and facilities, including the frameless neuronavigational guidance system, gamma-knife radiosurgery unit, and a fully equipped neuro intensive-care unit with all the latest radiotherapy facilities. And the center has in its medical staff a team of experts consisting of neurologists, neurosurgeons, medical oncologists, neurooncologists, neuroradiologists, neuropathologists, and radiooncologists. Dr. Eduardo Mercado, CSMC medical director and clinical director of Philippine Gamma Knife Center, said the center patient-focused. "The focus of the attention is the patient and his family, the compassion and the care, and the empathy that we would like to give to our patients," he said. The center offers a holistic and multidisciplinary approach to cancer management. By putting together specialists and subspecialists in one team, the patient gets a complete view of the illness and the best way to manage it. Under this setup, different specialists function as one unit. After seeing one case, they go into multidisciplinary conferences to discuss the case and arrive at the best treatment option. Dr. Valorie Chan, a medical oncologist, said this would make it easier for the patient to understand his or her condition unlike in the past when a patient often has to seek several opinions and is referred from one specialist to another. "It's so confusing at times. But if all the experts are put together, then it would be easier," said Chan. The "one-stop shop" service also reduces the stress on the part of the family. As Mercado said, "we will make this a way of life and new way of caring for people with these unfortunate diseases." For inquiries, call +63-2-7270001, extension 4302. M Mabelle Aban |
