News

Canadian pharmaceutical giant Biovail Corp. will focus its acquisition efforts on products that are already for sale or almost ready for the market, chief executive officer Bill Wells said yesterday. The company, which is now concentrating on drugs that treat disorders of the central nervous system, has made several acquisition and licensing deals in the past couple of years. It has enough products in long-range development, Mr. Wells said, "but I want to keep the momentum going in terms of sales growth and cash generation, which means that we probably need to do some shorter-term stuff as well in the relatively near future." The company is looking at between 10 and 20 licensing or acquisitions opportunities right now, he said. Biovail reported a third-quarter profit of $40.4-million (U.S.) or 25 cents a share in the quarter, down from $48.4-million or 31 cents a year earlier, thanks to one-time charges for research and development and restructuring. Revenue was up 17 per cent to $212.5-million. BVF (TSX) fell 19 cents to $13.95.