Bugs in Flu Drug Hit Chiron

Updated from August 26

Chiron(CHIR Quote) shares fell early Friday after the company late Thursday said it has found some problems with the production of its Fluvirin influenza virus vaccine, which will cause a delay in the product's reaching the market until early October.

Chiron said its quality control program detected "a small number" of products that failed to meet sterility specifications. Because it continues to investigate this matter, Chiron won't record any sales during the third quarter. The delay won't change the company's earnings-per-share prediction for the full year of $1.80 to $1.90 a share. But it said the EPS result will be at the low end of the range. (On a GAAP basis, the company expects an EPS $1.50 to $1.60 per share.)

In premarket trading Friday, Chiron's stock fell $3.64, or 7.7%, $43.85. The annoucement came after the markets closed Thursday. ...