ViroPharma posts $17.2 million second quarter net income, strong Vancocin sales

By Jennifer Lanning Drey

Eugene, Ore., Aug. 2 - ViroPharma Inc. reported net income of $17.2 million, or $0.25 per basic and diluted share, on revenues of $43.97 million for the second quarter, according to a company news release.

That was improved from net income of $5.0 million, or $0.15 per basic share and $0.11 per diluted share, for the same period in 2005.

During the quarter, net sales of Vancocin grew to $43.8 million, making it the largest single quarter for net sales in the product's history, said Vincent Milano, chief operating officer of ViroPharma, during a company conference call held Wednesday.

"Prescriptions for Vancocin were quite strong, growing 19% during the second quarter of 2006 over the same quarter of 2005 and by 11% over the first quarter of the current year," Milano said.

ViroPharma ended the quarter with cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments of $176 million and no debt, Milano said.

In the current quarter, the company expects to achieve milestones for product candidates maribavir and HCV-796.

"The balance of this quarter will be important for our pipeline as we reach significant milestones for maribavir and HCV-796, said Colin Broom, chief scientific offer of ViroPharma, during Wednesday's call.

The company is currently in discussions with the Food and Drug Administration to finalize key aspects of maribavir's development program, he said.

In September, ViroPharma expects to start a phase 3 clinical trial of maribavir in stem cell transplant patients. The trial will be followed in the fourth quarter by another phase 3 clinical trial of maribavir in solid organ transplant patients, according to Michel de Rosen, chief executive officer of ViroPharma.

In addition, the company expects to be able to provide data this quarter from a phase 1b combination study of HCV-796 with pegylated interferon. If the data is positive, a phase 2 study would begin soon after the completion of the phase 1b trial, he said.

"We believe that our future will be defined, to an important degree, by developments in our pipeline. At the same time, we are one of the fortunate few that are able to fully fund our pipeline while still operating profitably," said de Rosen.

ViroPharma is a biopharmaceutical company currently focusing its drug development activities in viral diseases including cytomegalovirus and hepatitis C. The company is located in Exton, Pa.

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