Genentech's 3Q Profit Surges 58 Percent!!

Genentech's 3Q Profit Up 58 Pct. on Strong Drugs Sales, Introduction of Eye Disorder Treatment
Third-quarter profit surged 58 percent for biotechnology company Genentech Inc. behind strong drugs sales and the introduction of a new treatment for an eye disorder, the company announced Tuesday.

South San Francisco-based Genentech reported a profit of $568 million, or 53 cents a share, for the quarter, compared to $359 million, or 33 cents a share, for the same period last year.

If not for special expenses, including employee stock options, the company said it would have earned $637 million, or 59 cents per share. On that basis, the company exceeded Wall Street analysts' expectations by eight cents a share, according to Thomson Financial.

Genentech said it expected earnings per share to grow by 65 percent to 70 percent for the full year.

The company's revenue rose 36 percent to $2.39 billion for the quarter, largely because of the continued popularity of Genentech's pricey cancer-fighting drugs. Sales of the non-Hodgkin's lymphoma treatment Rituxan rose 12 percent to $509 million for the quarter while sales for its colon cancer staple Avastin shot up 34 percent to $435 million.

Lucentis, the company's newest drug that treats the eye disease macular degeneration had sales of $153 million in the quarter. The Food and Drug Administration approved Lucentis on June 30.

"We are encouraged by strong initial physician acceptance of Lucentis," said Genentech chief executive Arthur Levinson. "The rapid adoption of the recently available Lucentis product reflects the fact that wet age-related macular degeneration is a key unmet medical need."

The results were released after the market closed. The company's shares fell 68 cents to close at $85.60, and tumbled $1.60 or 1.87 percent to $84 in after hours trading.