MedImmune alters 1Q EPS

MEDI after market close reduced its previously reported first quarter EPS figure to $0.28 from $0.29 to reflect an adjusted royalty expense for its Synagis palivizumab for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). The new EPS figure is a penny lower than the consensus $0.29 estimate. The royalty expense relates to Genentech's U.S. Patent No. 6,331,415 covering the co-expression of antibody heavy and light chains for producing antibodies by recombinant DNA technology. MEDI has a license to that patent under a 1997 deal with DNA, and said it is evaluating whether DNA's patent covers the production of Synagis. Pending MEDI's findings, the company said it made certain royalty payments to DNA "under protest." ...