Cor to Report Loss on Slow Integrilin Sales

Cor Therapeutics Inc. said it will report a surprise first-quarter loss and lower-than-expected profit for 2001 because of slowing sales for its only product on the market, the anti-clotting drug Integrilin. Cor said it expects a loss of 5 cents to 7 cents a share. Analysts had expected 3 cents on average, according to First Call/Thomson Financial. Integrilin sales this quarter will be $37 million to $39 million, lower than the $58 million to $59 million previously anticipated, the company said on a conference call with analysts and investors. Cor, which markets the drug with Schering-Plough Corp., blamed unexpected reductions in wholesaler inventories. Wholesalers stockpiled Integrilin ahead of a recent price increase and have been selling the drug at the higher prices without replenishing at previous levels, analysts said. Cor said it now expects full-year earnings of 35 cents to 37 cents a share, rather than the 40 cents analysts expected. Integrilin sales probably will be $245 million to $260 million for the year, below the $250 million to $270 million the company had projected. Integrilin sales have soared since the drug’s introduction in 1998, making it the top-selling drug among a new class of clot-preventing medicines used to treat patients with unstable angina, a crushing chest pain caused by narrowed or blocked arteries. Cor shares fell $1.88 to close at $31.75 on Nasdaq.