Q2 2004 Chiron Earnings Conference Call - Part 1.

(From Fair Disclosure Wire)

OPERATOR: Good afternoon. My name is Tracy and I will be your conference facilitator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to the Chiron second-quarter 2004 financial results conference call. All lines have been placed on mute to prevent any background noise. After the speakers' remarks, there will be a question and answer period. If you would like to ask a question during this time, simply press star and the number 1 on your telephone keypad. If you would like to withdraw your question press star and the number two on your telephone keypad. Thank you. I would like to turn conference over to Martin Forrest, Vice President of Corporate Communications. Please go ahead, sir. MARTIN FORREST, VICE PRESIDENT OF CORPORATE COMMUNICATIONS, CHIRON: Thank you, Tracy. Good afternoon, everyone, welcome to Chiron's second-quarter 2004 conference call. On behalf of the Chiron team, I would like to introduce to you our principal speakers. Howard Pien, Chiron CEO and President and David Smith, Chiron's CFO. I am Martin Forrest from the Corporate Communications and Investor Relations group. I and the rest of the Investor Relations team will be available after the call to answer your questions.

Before I turn the call over to Howard for his discussion of Chiron's results, I would like to remind you that the remarks will contain forward-looking statements relating to future events and the financial performance of the Company. Actual events and performance may differ materially from our expectations. We refer you to documents that the Company has filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission including our most recent 10-K and 10-Q for discussion of important factors that could cause the Company's actual performance to differ from those expressed or implied in today's remarks. We do not undertake any obligations to update the forward-looking information we are giving today. Please note that where we indicate a number to be pro forma in today's discussion, we have made available a reconciliation of pro forma to GAAP in the condensed consolidated statement of operations, attached to our press release issued today, and on our web site in the investor section under financial reports. Finally, please note that this call is being electronically recorded and is copyrighted by Chiron. No reproductions, copies or transcripts of this conference call can be made without the written permission of Chiron. With that as a preface, I turn the call over to you, Howard. HOWARD PIEN, PRESIDENT, CEO, DIRECTOR, CHIRON: Thanks, Martin. Good afternoon and welcome to our call. Today Chiron announced our second-quarter earnings results, and in this call I will talk to you about the progress we have made over the past quarter and provide you with a preview of the progresses that we intend to achieve in the quarters to come. We believe that a picture of Chiron as a successful and vibrant company will continue to be enhanced.

Let me begin by briefly highlighting our Analyst Day held in New York a few weeks back. We described in some detail Chiron's strategy for value creation and our plans for turning that strategy into results. We thank everyone who attended either in person or via webcast. We are especially grateful to the many of you who gave us pieces of feedback on how we have progressed and how we should progress further in obtaining our goals.

On the Analyst Day, we outlined four themes for value creation, and briefly they are, first, acquiring adjacent technologies that complement our existing strength, parenthetically the Sagres acquisition announced since Analyst Day is an example of this theme. Second, leveraging our platforms, products and skills into new geographies. Parenthetically the PowderJect Acquisition to enter the U.S. market exemplified the theme, and I will have some remarks on the upcoming flu season in a few minutes. And third, taking calculated risks that have the potential to pay great rewards. And finally, fourth, implementation, that is advancing our strategy through consistent execution.

The Analyst Day was also the…