Company reports 2002 1Q pro forma results of 21 cents per share.(Chiron Corp.)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)

2002 MAY 29 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Chiron Corporation (CHIR) reported pro-forma net income of $41 million or $0.21 per share for the first quarter of 2002, compared with $38 million, or $0.19 per share in the first quarter of 2001. Pro-forma results for the first quarter of 2002 exclude special items relating to the acquisitions of Matrix Pharmaceutical, Inc., PathoGenesis Corporation and Chiron Behring, and for the first quarter of 2001 exclude special items relating to the PathoGenesis acquisition and one-time payments by F. Hoffmann-La Roche (Roche) on hepatitis C virus and HIV diagnostic sales. On an as-reported basis, Chiron's net loss was $19 million, or $0.10 per share, for the first quarter of 2002, due to charges resulting from the acquisition of Matrix, including the write-off of purchased in-process research and development.

"We continue to build upon our expertise in cancer and infectious disease," commented Sean Lance, Chiron's chairman and CEO. "We've made important progress in expanding our core franchise this quarter with the FDA approval of Procleix, the addition of tezacitabine to our pipeline, and the beginning of a clinical program for a meningococcal B vaccine."

Total pro-forma revenues in the first quarter of 2002 were $252 million, compared with $240 million in the first quarter of 2001. Net product sales in the first quarter of 2002 increased 3% to $174 million from $169 million in the first quarter of 2001. All other revenue in the first quarter of 2002 increased 10% to $78 million from $71 million in the first quarter of 2001.

The biopharmaceuticals division, which includes Chiron's therapeutics business and supporting research, reported total net product sales and Betaferon royalties of $104 million in the first quarter of 2002, compared with $88 million in the first quarter of 2001. The gross profit margin on biopharmaceutical products sold during the first quarter of 2002 was 77%, level with the first quarter of 2001.

* TOBI (tobramycin solution for inhalation) sales in the first quarter of 2002 were $36 million, compared with sales of $33 million in the first quarter of 2001.

* Proleukin (aldesleukin, a recombinant form of interleukin-2) sales were $24 million in the first quarter of 2002, compared with $20 million in the first quarter of 2001.

* Sales of Betaseron (interferon beta-1b) to Berlex Laboratories, Inc., (and its parent company Schering AG) for marketing and resale were $22 million in the first quarter of 2002, compared with $20 million in the first quarter of 2001. Royalties from Schering AG's European sales of Betaferon were $13 million in the first quarter of 2002, compared with $10 million in the first quarter of 2001. Revenue from European sales of Betaferon is primarily recorded in royalty revenue. These increases were driven by a one-time benefit in the first quarter of 2002 due to adjustments related to our non-U.S. product sales and royalties. Previously, Chiron had accounted for non-U.S. product sales on a one-quarter lag and royalties as a percentage of forecast received from Schering, with an adjustment of the estimate to actual in ...