Genentech (DNA) cancer drug sales disappoint - BloggingStocks

Posted April 11th 2008 11:12AM by Filed under: , , , Shares of biotechnology giant . (NYSE: ) have got been trading slightly less despite the company posting yesterday eventide . Hurting the stock this morning time are the company's gross gross sales of malignant neoplastic disease drugs Avastin, which disappointed analysts.Genentech announced that its net income during the first-quarter rose 12% to $790 million, or 74 cents per share, boosted by strong malignant neoplastic disease drug sales. These Numbers are up from $706 million, or 66 cents a share reported in the same time period a twelvemonth ago. Excluding particular items, the company's net income would have got come up at 84 cents a share, exceeding analysts' prognoses for a quarterly net income of 82 cents a share.The company's quarterly gross saw a growing of 8% to $3.06 billion, up from $2.84 billion a twelvemonth ago. However, this was not adequate to beat out analysts' anticipations for gross gross sales of $3.1 billion in the quarter, according to Virgil Thomson Financial.For this period, the biotechnology company benefited from strong sales of its top-selling cancer drugs, Avastin and Rituxan, which jumped 13%. Gross Sales of Rituxan increased 13% twelvemonth over twelvemonth to $605 million, while malignant neoplastic disease drug Avastin gross gross sales totaled $600 million, but missed analysts' prognosis for $622 million in sales. Analysts were waiting for Genentech to demo higher Avastin gross sales especially after the company won U.S. regulating blessing for the drug as a breast malignant neoplastic disease treatment in February, despite an federal agency panel's ballot for a negative recommendation. Genentech's executive directors believe the weak gross sales Numbers were brought by physicians' safety concerns before the Food and Drug Administration approval. However, they see "all of the signs" as "very good" as the weak gross sales growing came after they "only had the label for four or five hebdomads within the quarter.'' is a fiscal author for the online investing advisory service .