“Biogen Idec Inc.’s BIIB -0.14% fourth-quarter net profit fell 2.7% as the biotechnology company’s efforts to bulk up its product pipeline masked its revenue growth.
The company also forecast 2013 adjusted earnings of between $7.15 and $7.25 a share on about 10% revenue growth. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expect $7.27 a share on a 9% rise in revenue to $5.98 billion.
Biogen on Thursday said a new version of its blockbuster multiple-sclerosis drug Avonex was successful in a late-stage trial, strengthening the company’s stable of drugs for the degenerative nerve disease. However, the overall market for such injectable drugs is expected to decline sharply amid a growing market for oral-pill-based drugs. Biogen’s own BG-12 pill could be approved and launched in the U.S. as soon as March.
Biogen has been beefing up its sales force and readying its manufacturing supply chain as some drugs in its late-stage product pipeline have been drawing closer to entering the market….”
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