Cialis sales soar, but loss is
higher as well
April 20, 2004
Bothell-based Icos Corp. said sales of
erectile dysfunction drug Cialis
reached $108.3 million in the first quarter
as nearly 2 million patients tried the treatment,
but the joint venture selling Cialis said
the net loss ballooned during the period.
Icos developed Cialis in a joint venture
with Indianapolis-based Eli Lilly and Co.,
and received approval to sell it in Europe
in February 2003. The company now markets
Cialis in more than 55 countries, including
the United States, where sales reached $32.8
million in the three-month period ended
March 31.
In that period, Lilly Icos' net loss was
$138.8 million, compared to a net loss of
$43.1 million for the same period a year
ago.
Selling, general and administrative expenses
increased to $195.1 million in the first
quarter of 2004 from $42.4 million in the
year-ago period.
The increase is primarily due to sales
and marketing costs associated with the
U.S. launch of Cialis, and the fact that
2003 includes only a partial quarter of
post-launch marketing and sales activities
in Europe, the company said.
"The Cialis marketing and selling
investment is heavily front-ended relative
to the expected revenue trajectory,"
the company said in a statement. "The
Lilly Icos results reported today are consistent
with our expectation ... that more than
half of the 2004 net loss would occur in
the first quarter."
Icos said its marketing plan in the United
States has been effective. Cialis has been
adopted more quickly than Levitra, another
new entrant that is attempting to wrest
market share from longtime leader Viagra,
Lilly Icos said.
For the week ended April 2, Cialis captured
nearly 20 percent of new erectile-dysfunction
prescriptions written in the United
States, and 11.1 percent of the total. Levitra
reports 14.2 percent of new prescriptions
and 10.3 percent of the total.
"We are delighted with the favorable
response by physicians and patients since
the U.S. launch of Cialis began, in late
2003," said Paul Clark, Icos chairman
and chief executive officer.
© 2004 American City Business Journals
Inc.
source:-http://seattle.bizjournals.com
