A significant increase in sales for MedImmune’s high-profile nasal flu vaccine boosted the Gaithersburg-based biotech firm’s 2006 revenues, the company said Wednesday.
Sales of FluMist increased by 71 percent between 2005 and 2006, which helped boost the company’s revenues to $1.3 billion for the year, up from $1.2 billion in 2005. Fourth-quarter revenue jumped 7 percent to $529 million.
However, despite the increases, sales were below Wall Street expectations and the company’s stock fell 9 percent to $31 in midday trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market. The company earned $120.7 million, or 50 cents per share, in the fourth quarter.
Analysts were expecting the company to rebound from a profit loss in the fourth quarter of 2005 to 54 cents a share. The company is still digging out of its 2005 acquisition of Cellective Therapeutics, which gave the company a loss of $22.4 million.
Officials for MedImmune said 2006 was a rebuilding year, and it is on track to hit its goal of $2 billion in revenue by 2009.
“During 2006, we made major progress in building key aspects of our business to be prepared for the substantial growth we have projected for 2007 through 2009,” said David Mott, MedImmune’s president and chief executive officer, in a statement.
“In addition to the improvements in our commercial capabilities, we made significant investments in research and development, facilities, systems and processes, and our general infrastructure.”
The majority of those investments had a direct impact on the local economy. For example, MedImmune added about 125 salespeople to its staff in 2006 and broke ground on a $250 millionmanufacturing plant for its respiratory drug Synagis in Frederick, which is expected to double the number of local employees by 2008. The company currently employs more than 1,100 in the Washington region.
MedImmune also won approval from the Food & Drug Administration in 2006 to offer an updated version of its flu vaccine.
The new version can be stored in the refrigerator, rather than the freezer. The company hopes the new, easier-to-store version will increase sales of the vaccine.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
