Japan's Shionogi Reports Fall in Profit to December 2004

Japanese drugmaker Shionogi has reported a 2.9 percent fall in its turnover in the first three quarters of the fiscal year ending March 2005 to JPY151.8bn (US$1.45bn). Net income was JPY15.2bn (US$145.20mn) in the period. The company cited domestic drug price cuts and sluggish demand for antibiotics as the main reasons for the decline.

The company earned royalties totalling JPY3.1bn (US$29.60mn) from UK- and Sweden-based drug major AstraZeneca on its Crestor drug, although sales on many of the company's own products declined notably in the period. Sales of injectable antibiotic Flumarin (flomoxef sodium) declined 11.9 percent, and sales on MS Contin, an oral morphine-based painkiller for cancer sufferers, fell 25.7 percent. However, revenue on allergy drug Claritin (loratadine) increased by 32.1 percent, albeit below the company's forecast.

In further negative news, the company terminated development of five new compounds, including two for cancer and molecules undergoing clinical trials with Eli Lilly and GlaxoSmithKline in the US and Europe. However, a prospective HIV/AIDS treatment known as S-1153 advanced to Phase III trials.