Barr Sales Up on Pliva Acquisition, Generic Contraceptives

Barr Pharmaceuticals released its second-quarter earnings report with numbers showing that generic sales increased to $487 million, compared with $222 million during the second quarter of last year.

In addition, during the first half of 2007, generic sales increased to $961 million, compared with $423 million during the same time last year. The sales jump was primarily driven by the company’s acquisition of Pliva: before buying the Croatian drugmaker last fall, Barr did not sell products outside the U.S. Pliva’s generic sales in Europe and elsewhere were $191 million during the second quarter.

U.S. sales rose from $222 million during the second quarter of 2006 to $296 million during the second quarter of this year. The increase was related to U.S. sales of newly acquired Pliva products and strong generic Actiq (fentanyl citrate) sales, the company said.

In addition, generic oral contraceptives are Barr’s largest generic product category, with $116 million in sales during the second quarter, compared with $107 million during the same period last year.