Teva doubles Q4 profit

Teva Pharmaceutical has announced a jump in profit of over 100 per cent to $771m for the final quarter of 2010. Net profit for the company for the same period in 2009 was $379m.

The positive results follow a strong third quarter performance, with the benefits again seen regarding the purchase of generics firm Ratiopharm in March 2010, and the continuing success of Copaxone (glatiramer acetat), the world's leading therapy for multiple sclerosis (MS).

Copaxone made $938m in the quarter, an increase of 26 per cent over 2009. With total net revenue for the quarter coming to $4.4bn, Copaxone accounted for nearly a quarter of Teva's total sales.

Regionally, European performance was particularly successful, with revenue up 43 per cent on 2009 with the company making $1.3bn. The company said this was driven by increased sales of Copaxone and the use of Teva's generics in Germany, Spain, the UK and Italy.

Sales in North America and international markets also saw growth, although both by a smaller margin.

Full year results were also announced by Teva, with similar positive developments.

Net sales for the whole of 2010 were up 16 per cent to $16.1bn, with net profit recorded as $3.3bn. This is an increase of 67 per cent compared with net profit of $2.0bn.

"During 2010 Teva became the generics leader in Europe and increased our presence in key emerging markets," said Shlomo Yanai, president and CEO, Teva. "This was also an exciting year for our branded business, where we made excellent progress in developing a robust and promising pipeline of branded products."

Yanai also commented on Teva's hopes for 2011, with 206 product applications currently filed with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and nine pending with the European Medicines Agency (EMA): "Teva's 2010 results provide us with an exceptionally strong foundation to deliver continuous profitable growth in 2011, and position us right on track to achieve our long-term strategic goals."