SciClone Pharmaceuticals sees 2009 revenue boost, sets 2010 outlook above forecasts

SciClone sees 2009 revenue boost, sets 2010 view

FOSTER CITY, Calif. — Shares of SciClone Pharmaceuticals Inc. jumped Monday after the maker of cancer and hepatitis treatments said it expects to report a 34 percent boost in 2009 revenue and forecast 2010 sales above Wall Street expectations.

Revenue rose 34 percent to $72.4 million in 2009, the company said, citing preliminary results. SciClone expects to report full financial results in early March. It expects 2010 revenue to range between $82 million and $85 million, well above the $73.6 million currently forecast by analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters.

“Given the strong performance of our international commercial operations and careful expense management, we expect profits to continue to grow in 2010,” said President and CEO Friedhelm Blobel. “We look forward to providing full 2010 financial guidance as well as an update on our pipeline later this quarter.”

SciClone sells Zadaxin in more than 30 countries for the treatment of hepatitis B and C and certain cancers. It also is testing the drug, also known as thymalfasin, as an enhancer of H1N1 flu vaccines and for stage IV melanoma.

Shares rose 24 cents, or 9.5 percent, to close at $2.77. The stock, which traded a year ago as low as 78 cents, climbed steadily to peak at a 52-week high of $5.33 in September, but fell off sharply a month later after the company suspended a study of an experimental treatment for late-stage pancreatic cancer.