Shire beats, BCHE misses Street estimates

Shire (LSE:SHP; SHPGY) reported first quarter EPS of $0.32, $0.04 better than the Street's estimate of $0.28, largely due to a 34 percent increase in product sales to $151.4 million. Sales growth was driven by Adderall for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, which increased 29 percent to $70.1 million in the first quarter of 2001.

Meanwhile, BioChem Pharma (BCHE; TSE:BCH) - the company SHPGY plans to acquire -- also put out first quarter earnings; reporting EPS of C$0.23, C$0.03 shy of the Street's consensus of C$0.26. BCHE's revenues fell to C$59.4 million from C$72.5 million, thanks to a reduction of R&D contracts, which fell to C$1.4 million from C$15.4 million in the first quarter of 2000. Royalties increased to C$47.9 million from C$42.7 million in last year's quarter, and product sales increased to C$4.2 million from C$3.9 million, derived principally from BCHE's sale of 3TC and Zeffix for HIV and hepatitis B. BCHE was up $0.40 to $30.79 in NASDAQ trading on Thursday. ...