Hospira beats Street, plans EPO biosimilar submission

Hospira Inc. (NYSE:HSP) gained $4.31 to $56.21 on Wednesday after reporting 2Q14 financial results that beat the Street. Adjusted diluted EPS for the quarter was $0.72, beating the Street's $0.57 estimate and up from $0.55 in 2Q13. Hospira reported net sales of $1.14 billion for the quarter, beating the Street's estimate of $1.06 billion and up from $1.03 billion in 2Q13. The company increased its full-year guidance and now expects adjusted diluted EPS of $2.30-$2.50 on 6-9% in sales growth compared to 2013. The company previously forecast a change in net sales of -2% to +3% on a constant currency basis over 2013 and adjusted diluted EPS of $2-$2.25. The Street was expecting $2.22 in full-year EPS.

Hospira disclosed during its earnings call that it plans to submit a regulatory application to FDA for Retacrit epoetin zeta, a biosimilar of Epogen epoetin alfa from Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN), later this year or early next year. Hospira already markets Retacrit in Europe to treat anemia associated with chronic renal failure and chemotherapy. ...