Abbott Labs reports that first-quarter profits fell 19 percent thanks to the recent purchase of Kos Pharmaceuticals, but the results still managed to exceed Wall Street expectations as sales of its Humira arthritis drug continue to rise.

Net income dropped to $698 million, or 45 cents a share, although excluding costs, earnings were 55 cents, three cents higher than estimates. Revenue rose 15.5 percent to $5.3 billion, spurred by a 46 percent jump for Humira.

Abbott paid $3.7 billion for Kos to get the cholesterol medicine Niaspan, and has since fired more than 400 employees. Sales of Humira, which last year accounted for almost 10 percent of Abbott’s revenue, rose to $571 million in the quarter. The arthritic treatment’s sales were helped in the past 12 months by winning additional FDA approval for a spine condition, psoriatic arthritis, and Crohn’s disease, a digestive disorder that affects about 600,000 Americans.

Further reading…
Abbott press release;
Bloomberg News.[tags]Abbott Laboratories[/tags]