| Icos
Says it Won't be Profitable for Years
August 07, 2003
NEW YORK -- The stock of drug
company Icos Corp. fell 16 percent yesterday
after the company said it won't be profitable
for two or three more years.
The Seattle-based company said the costs of
marketing its erection
drug Cialis in the United States, where
the company expects approval by the end of the
year, will push it to a much wider loss in 2004
than predicted.
Shares of Icos closed at $33.24, down $6.25
on the Nasdaq Stock Market.
Icos also reported second-quarter European
sales figures of the drug, which weren't as
good as some were expecting.
On a conference call Tuesday night, the company
gave an improved forecast for 2003, now calling
for a loss of $131 million to $141 million,
or $2.10 to $2.25 a share, this year. The company
previously expected to lose $159 million to
$169 million, or $2.54 to $2.70 a share.
The better outlook stems mainly from a $21
million payment the company received from Biogen
Inc.
However, costs are expected to soar in 2004
with the company and its Cialis marketing partner,
Eli Lilly & Co., footing the bill for a
massive U.S. direct-to-consumer advertising
campaign and a big Cialis sales push to American
physicians.
"Because Icos and Lilly will spend aggressively
to promote Cialis against Viagra
and Levitra, Icos does not expect the product
to be profitable for 18 to 24 months following
its launch," S.G. Cowen analyst Phil Nadeau
wrote in a note yesterday.
On Tuesday, Icos also reported a narrower second-quarter
loss on higher revenue and lower operating expenses.
The drug research company said its second-quarter
loss was $11.5 million, or 19 cents a share,
compared with $40.4 million, or 66 cents a share,
last year.
source:-http://seattlepi.nwsource.com
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