Improved sales of Treanda hike 2Q profits of Cephalon

Earlier on Tuesday, Cephalon Inc. announced that its second quarter profits spiked 33 percent due to improved sales of cancer drugs of the company. Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd is in the process of acquiring Cephalon.

Cephalon declared that its net income catapulted from $89.1 million, or $1.11 per share, a year ago to$118.2 million, or $1.34 per share. Cephalon announced that its profit amounted to $1.62 per share, excluding one-time items. Revenues increased from $726.9 million and rose 2 percent to $738.3 million.

According to FactSet, analysts anticipated larger returns of nearly $2.10 per share on a revenue of $768.6 million.

The company provided a brief on the revenues and losses as follows:

• Central nervous system drugs dropped 5 percent to $332.3 million,
• Sleep disorder drug Provigil fell 12 percent to $251.1 million,
• Cancer drug sales increased 22 percent to $158.8 million,
• Treanda sales jumped 26 percent to $125.8 million, and
• Pain drugs like Fentora hiked 4 percent to $140.6 million.

Teva is expected to complete acquisition of Cephalon by the end of the third quarter. In May, Cephalon agreed to a sell out to Teva for $81.50 per share, or $6.8 billion in cash. Israel based Teva is the top-notch manufacturer of generic drugs worldwide. The branded drug unit of Cephalon, which currently sells the MS drug Copaxone and the Parkinson’s disease drug Azilect, will be strengthened by this move.

Cephalon sold off to Teva who outbid Canadian drugmaker Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. According to Cephalon, the sale has been approved by the boards of both Teva and Cephalon, and both companies are progressing with sale-related discussions with US and European regulators.

On Tuesday, Cephalon shares plummeted 14 cents to $79.95, and in after-hours trading, increased 14 cents to $80.09.

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