Bristol-Myers Profit Falls 11% as Costs Rise

Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., the drug maker that last month restated earnings back to 1999, said first-quarter profit fell 11% as costs rose and generic rivals eroded sales of some former top sellers.

Net income at the fourth-biggest U.S. drug maker slipped to $761 million, or 39 cents a share, from $856 million, or 44 cents, a year earlier. Sales rose 1% to $4.71 billion, the New York-based firm said.

Bristol-Myers spent more to market a new schizophrenia drug, Abilify, hoping to help make up sales lost to generic versions of the cancer medicine Taxol and diabetes pill Glucophage IR. Sales of the heart drug Plavix also fell.

Its shares rose 85 cents, or 3.5%, to $25.21 on the New York Stock Exchange.