Pharmion's Loss Widens, but Sales Rise

Pharmion(PHRM Quote) reported a third-quarter loss Wednesday, but revenue beat expectations and the company raised full-year guidance.

The company reported a net loss of $21.4 million, or 58 cents a share, compared with a loss of $3.6 million, or 11 cents a share in the year-ago quarter.

Pharmion's quarter included a charge of $8 million for a milestone payment triggered by the acceptance of its marketing application for cancer drug Satraplatin by the European Medicines Agency.

Net sales were $67.3 million, compared with $61.6 million in the year-ago quarter. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial estimated a loss of 43 cents a share on revenue of $66.4 million.

Pharmion raised its 2007 revenue guidance to $265 million to $270 million, from a prior range of $250 million to $260 million.

Worldwide sales of Vidaza, an injection for myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), totaled $42.3 million in the third quarter of 2007, compared with $36.6 million in the same quarter of 2006. The company said it's on track to file for accelerated approval for Vidaza in Europe by year-end.

Shares closed Wednesday up 83 cents, or 1.8%, at $48.12, but were down $1.12, or 2.3%, to $47 in after-hours trading.