Mylan’s profit higher despite revenue drop

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Generic drug giant Mylan Wednesday reported higher profits in the first quarter despite lower revenue that was hurt by a 19 percent side in sales in its North America segment and declines in sales of its EpiPen allergy shot.

The company, which has its operations base in Cecil, earned $87.1 million, up 31 percent from $66.4 million in the same quarter last year. Per-share profits rose 42 percent to 17 cents from 12 cents.

Excluding special items in both periods, adjusted earnings fell 1 percent to $495.6 million from $499.8 million, while per-share profits edged up 3 percent to 96 cents from 93 cents.

Revenue slipped 1 percent to $2.68 billion from $2.72 billion.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration Wednesday added the EpiPen and Mylan’s generic versions of the emergency injector to its list of drugs in short supply. The agency said the drugs were available, but that “supply levels may vary across wholesalers and pharmacies.”

“Based on the information provided by the manufacturer, the FDA anticipates the EpiPen shortage to be short-term,” FDA spokeswoman Lauren Smith Dyer said in an email Wednesday.

Severe supply shortages in other countries have been reported for months.

EpiPens are produced for Mylan by Pfizer Inc. In September, the FDA issued a warning letter to Pfizer’s Meridian Medical Technologies division after concluding the company failed to properly investigate “hundreds” of complaints about the device failing.

Mylan posted a phone number to help pharmacies and patients locate EpiPens if they are having difficulties finding them: 1-800-796-9526.