Two up, one down in biotech earnings

Three publicly traded biotechnology companies in Westchester County recently reported their fourth-quarter and full-year earnings in 2011.

Taro 

Taro Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., a Hawthorne-based leader in the U.S. in medications for the skin, reported a 44 percent jump in sales in the fourth quarter of 2011. Gross profit, as a percentage of sales, was almost 72 percent, compared to almost 60 percent a year earlier. Expenses fell by 22 percent.

In the quarter, the company earned more than $62 million, or $1.40 a share, up from $16.5 million, or 38 cents a share, a year earlier.

Taro”™s interim CEO, Jim Kedrowski, warned that “a significant portion of the quarter”™s growth in net sales and profits was derived from price increases on select products in the U.S. market and may not be sustainable.”

For the year, Taro earned almost $183 million, or $4.11 a share, compared to $64 million, or $1.53 a share, a year earlier.

Taro also specializes in oral medications used in cardiology, pediatrics and neurology. 

Regeneron

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc., headquartered in Greenburgh, reported losses for the fourth quarter and for all of 2011.

In the fourth quarter, Regeneron lost $34 million, or 37 cents a share, compared with a loss of $1 million, or 1 cent a share, a year earlier. For the year, the company lost $162 million, or $1.79 a share, compared with a loss of $65 million, or 78 cents a share, a year earlier.

In 2011, Regeneron launched the drug EYLEA to treat wet macular degeneration, the leading cause of blindness for people over 65 in the U.S. and Europe. It projects sales this year in the U.S. of $250 million to $300 million.

Acorda

Acorda Therapeutics Inc., based in Hawthorne but moving to Ardsley this year, reported a rise in earnings for the fourth quarter and the year. The company focuses on drugs aimed at treating neurological conditions.

The company said it benefited from sales of AMPYRA, a drug designed to improve walking in patients with multiple sclerosis. It said its research and development this year would be focused on more uses of the drug to treat MS as well as cerebral palsy. Acorda said it expects to earn $255 million to $275 million from AMPYRA in 2012.

For the quarter, Acorda earned $12.6 million, or 32 cents a share, up from $3.6 million, or 10 cents a share, a year earlier. For the year, profit was $30.6 million, or 78 cents a share, compared with a loss of $11.7 million, or 31 cents a share, a year earlier.

On Feb. 15, Acorda agreed to buy privately held Neuronex Inc. Neuronex is preparing an application for a nasal spray for certain patients with epilepsy.