Biotech Values

[DewDiligence]

AGN Shares Climb on Strong Botox Growth

[AGN was +4.3% today, which is a very big move for such a stable stock. Botox sales (for cosmetic and medical uses) grew 14% YoY in local currencies. In the US market, Botox for medical (non-cosmetic) indications had a whopping 93% market share, despite the presence of three other neurotoxins on the market (Dysport, Xeomin, and Myobloc). Botox is closing in on a $2B annualized run rate, which is not bad for a drug that a regular poster on this board called "ridiculous."]

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-08-01/allergan-rises-the-most-in-3-years-as-botox-sales-lift-profit.html

›By Jeanna Smialek - Aug 1, 2012 3:48 PM ET

Allergan Inc. climbed the most in three years after second-quarter earnings beat analyst estimates and the company raised the lower end of its full-year forecast.

Allergan gained 4.7 percent to $85.95 at 3:45 p.m. New York time. The shares of the Irvine, California-based company rose to as high as $91.94, their biggest intraday increase since March 2009. Earnings excluding some items of $1.07 a share beat by 1 cent the average of 22 analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg.

[Non-GAAP] earnings for 2012 will be $4.15 to $4.19 a share, the company said, increasing the lower end of the outlook by 2 cents. Botox sales increased 10 percent to $461.2 million in the second quarter, while revenue from southern Europe wasn’t hurt by the debt crisis, the company said. [On a constant-currency basis, Botox sales grew 14% YoY.]

“We have just some fabulous growth rates, even in the so- called old Europe,” David Pyott, Allergan CEO, said on a conference call with analysts.

Allergan has more than half the European breast implant market share, which is split between 11 companies, Pyott said in a later telephone interview. Worldwide sales growth for the Allergan’s implants has been 14 percent this year, he said.

“The market doesn’t seem to have taken a hit,” Pyott said.‹