Acne, Wrinkle Treatments Help Medicis Post Profit

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Medicis Pharmaceutical Corp. posted a third-quarter profit on Wednesday, as sales of its skin products surged, and a research and development charge came off the books.

Medicis said it earned $21.1 million, or 33 cents per share. A year ago, the company lost $14.7 million, or 26 cents per share, partly due to a $30.5 million charge to acquire ongoing research after it invested in biotech drugmaker Revance Therapeutics.

Revenue jumped 32 percent, to $151.8 million from $115.4 million, due to stronger sales of its acne drug Solodyn and launch of its wrinkle remover Dysport.

Excluding one-time items it said its profit came to 50 cents per share in the most recent quarter.

Analysts, who typically exclude items, expected a profit of 42 cents per share and $153.2 million in revenue, according to Thomson Reuters.

Medicis said acne product revenue rose 61 percent to $106.8 million, and revenue from other skin products rose 4 percent to $35.5 million. Non-dermatology revenue fell 37 percent to $9.5 million.