Lexapro, Namenda boost Forest

Who does Forest Labs appreciate? Lexapro and Namenda, to name two. The two drugs helped boost the drug maker's fiscal third-quarter net by 21 percent to $301 million, or 96 cents a share. Revenue was up by 12 percent to $998 million. Analysts were expecting an average of 75 cents a share earnings on sales of $947 million.

Lexapro, the depression and anxiety drug that Forest sells under license from Denmark's Lundbeck, grew by 11 percent to $603.5 million during the quarter. Meanwhile, the Alzheimer's and dementia drug Namenda grew by 26 percent to $218 million. The strong third-quarter performance led Forest to increase its earnings outlook for the year: to $3.35 to $3.45 per share from $3.10 to $3.20 per share.

The only shadow on this strong quarterly report is the fact that Lexapro and Namenda will both soon lose patent protection, and generics makers already are fighting to make copycat versions.

- see the release from Forest Labs
- read the report in the Wall Street Journal

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