Idec Pharmaceuticals Matches Fourth-Quarter Expectations

Earnings Scorecard
Actual	Estimated*	Year-Ago
$0.12	$0.12	$0.05

Idec Pharmaceuticals (IDPH) said Monday that it met Wall Street's earnings expectations for the fourth quarter.

The biopharmaceutical company, which is based in San Diego, said it earned $20.4 million, or 12 cents a share, up from $7.7 million, or 5 cents a share in the year-ago period. Ten analysts polled by First Call/Thomson Financial were calling for the company to earn 12 cents a share in the period.

Revenue increased to $45.8 million from $32 million in the equivalent period last year.

Sales of Rituxan, which is copromoted in the U.S. by Idec and Genetech (DNA), totaled $134 million for the fourth quarter. Sales from the drug, which is used to treat non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, was up from the $72.2 million in the equivalent period last year.

Shares of Idec gained $3.50, or 5.5%, to $66.81 in the regular session Nasdaq, but slipped slightly to $66.50 in recent after-hours Island trading.

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