Q1 results: Serono, Schering, Affymetrix, Chugai, Shire

Shares in Swiss biotechnology company Serono have tumbled after the firm unexpectedly booked US$725 million to cover legal costs relating to an investigation into US sales of its Serostim AIDS drug.

Serostim is a growth hormone prescribed to patients with AIDS to counteract wasting as a result of the virus.

"These investigations seek to determine whether such practices violated any laws... or constituted fraud in connection with Medicare and or Medicaid reimbursement to third parties," Serono said in a statement.

The charge, which Serono's chief financial officer said was a one-off, exceeded the forecast for its entire net profit for this year, and forced the Geneva-based firm to report a deep first-quarter net loss.

Even without the charge, first-quarter profits fell short of expectations, and sales of the firm's key multiple sclerosis drug Rebif appeared to suffer from competition in the United States, analysts said.

The news follows an announcement this month that the firm had cancelled two late-stage clinical trials for much-needed new products.

Contraceptive drives Schering Q1 profit

German drugmaker Schering has posted a 7 per cent rise in quarterly operating profit, driven by strong sales of a key contraceptive, and reiterated it expected profitability to improve this year.

Berlin-based Schering, the world's top producer by volume of oral contraceptives, said quarterly operating profit came in at Euro 230 million (AUD$383 million).

Affymetrix posts profit

Affymetrix has posted a quarterly profit of US$16.2 million, or 24 cents per share, compared with a $1.8 million loss, or 3 cents per share, a year ago. The company reported higher product revenues and contained costs.

Total revenue was $88.6 million, compared with $78.6 million in last year's first quarter.

Chugai Q1 profit jumps on strong Tamiflu sales

Chugai Pharmaceutical, the Japanese unit of Switzerland's Roche, has reported a 166 per cent jump in first quarter profit, helped by strong sales of influenza drug Tamiflu.

Net profit for the three months ended March 31 came to 17.25 billion yen versus 6.48 billion yen a year earlier, on sales of 84.64 billion yen, up 30 per cent.

Quarterly sales of Chugai's key in-house anemia drug Epogin grew 5 percent while other Roche-origin drugs such as the Rituxan and Herceptin cancer drugs as well as Pegasys treatment for Hepatitis C also propped up Chugai's growth.

Chugai kept its half-year and full-year forecasts, which were revised up by 44 per cent and 10 per cent respectively earlier this month, reflecting higher demand for Tamiflu.

UK's Shire extends losses after US acquisition

The cost of launching new drugs and destocking by wholesalers is expected to hit first-quarter earnings for Shire Pharmaceuticals, as the UK drugmaker battles to win support for its purchase of US group Transkaryotic Therapies.