9/18 05:08 EST
现在，过敏症药物Claritin和Zyrtec不再需要医生开具的处方就能购买了，而部分价值100亿美元的处方药市场在未来五年内也将在大众药品商店内出售，Perrigo(代號:PRGO) 的CEO Joseph Papa对此“未来充满信心”。作为非处方品牌药品的生产商，Perrigo面对的是极富机遇的大市场，公司已经在周二收购了JB Laboratories这家非处方药和保健药品的合同生产商，4400万美元的收购价已经为公司创造了7000万美元的年销售额，还有就是更多的生产能力。公司的股价周二立刻上升了3.6%，周三上升了3% 。
在此次收购之前，公司表示到08年6月28日为止，预测销售额将上涨13-18%，约为20.6-21.5亿美元，每股收益预测为1.90-1.98美元。ThomsonReuters分析师预期今年每股收益为1.96美元，同比增长了24% 。此预期还将由于公司的收购交易略有提升。Caris&Co.分析师Linda Bolton Weiser预期此项收购交易将有助于公司每股收益提高0.03美元。同时公司还将推出一种新型药物：无昏睡作用的抗组胺剂。“我们认为这只是第一波战略。”
在2002年美国政府放开过敏症处方药生产变为非处方药之时，公司就推出了私有品牌Claritin这一过敏症药物，立刻赢得了30%的市场份额，包括品牌药物和店面销售药物在内。公司拥有的国家级品牌药物占据了至少一半的市场份额，并于一月份推出了另一个私有品牌药物Zyrtec。但是这样一个大市场并非只有Zyrtec，公司同时还推出了另外六个药物。“Zyrtec已经获得了15%的市场份额，综合起来我们已经占据了80%的市场。已经没人能够超越 Perrigo了。”
大型生物品牌类制药商Teva Pharmaceutical(代號:TEVA)和Watson Pharmaceuticals(代號:WPI)也涉足私有品牌的过敏症药物，但是这并非其核心技术。分析师表示：“这是完全不同的业务，Perrigo的运营模式更加类似于Procter & Gamble(代號:PG)。 ”公司的药物生产历史可以追溯到1887年，随着1990年药店市场迅速发展起来，这立即成为Perrigo的主要利润来源。公司在美国、墨西哥、以色列和英国都运营着过敏症、感冒和头痛症药物，拥有Tylenol, Advil, Robitussin, NyQuil, Sudafed等众多品牌药物。Wal-Mart(代號:WMT), Walgreens(代號:WAG)和Kroger(代號:KR)都出售公司生产的药物。同时WMT是公司最大的分销商，为其创造了20%的年销售额。
公司最大的竞争对手Leiner Health Products已经于今年早期破产，今年七月份维生素生产商NBTY(代號:NTY)收购了这家公司约为3.71亿美元的资产。为了促进利润率，公司还提高了生产流水线过程，并计划推出更多的高利润产品。其中之一就是治疗心痛的药物Prilosec。公司的omeprazole药物产品组合接近1.5-2亿美元。
四季度公司的销售额同比增长了34%至5.002亿美元。两项生产处方药和活跃性药物的小型部门分别创造了3840万美元和3830万美元的销售额。公司在以色列的产品销售额达到4880万美元。公司的每股收益同比增长了62%至0.39美元。全年每股收益增长了78%至1.58美元。分析师预期从09年七月开始，公司的每股收益增长为10-11% 。
Investor's Business Daily
Generic-Drug Firm Making Hay With Knockoff Allergy Medications
Wednesday September 17, 6:11 pm ET
Marilyn Alva Allergy drugs Claritin and Zyrtec don't need doctors' orders anymore.
And some $10 billion in other prescription drugs should cross over to general store aisles in the next five years.
That makes Joseph Papa "excited about the future."
As chief executive of Perrigo (NasdaqGS:PRGO - News), the largest maker of store-branded over-the-counter drugs, he sees lots of opportunities.
Those became greater after Perrigo said on Tuesday that it had bought JB Laboratories, a contract manufacturer of over-the-counter drugs and nutrition products, including vitamins.
The $44 million purchase gives Perrigo an extra $70 million in annual sales and more production capacity. Perrigo's stock jumped 3.6% on Tuesday and nearly 3% on Wednesday.
Buyout Boost
Before the buyout, Perrigo said sales would rise between 13% and 18% this fiscal year ending June 28, to between $2.06 billion and $2.15 billion. It saw profit between $1.90 and $1.98 a share.
Analysts tracked by Thomson Reuters expected profit of $1.96 per share this year, a 24% gain over last year. That forecast might inch up a bit since Perrigo said the buyout would boost earnings.
Analyst Linda Bolton Weiser of Caris & Co. expects the deal to add 3 cents in annual EPS.
Meanwhile, one of the biggest new opportunities for Perrigo, Papa says, will come from non-drowsy antihistamines.
"We believe we will be there in the first wave," he said.
Claritin got the ball rolling in 2002, when the government cleared the prescription allergy drug for over-the-counter sales.
Perrigo's private-label Claritin has won about 30% of the market, including brand and store labels.
National brands typically keep at least 50% market share after private labels come on the market.
Perrigo rolled out a private-label version of Zyrtec in January. It wasn't alone. Six other store-brand versions also won approval.
"So you would guess we would get 15% of the store-brand Zyrtec market," Papa said. "We have over 80%."
Industry observers aren't surprised.
"Not everybody can do what Perrigo does," Weiser said. "Retailers have to have a consistent supply with quality products. Perrigo has 60% (overall) market share so they must be doing something right."
Big generic and branded drug makers such as Teva Pharmaceutical (NasdaqGS:TEVA - News) and Watson Pharmaceuticals (NYSE:WPI - News) dabble in over-the-counter private-label products. But it's not their core skill, Weiser says.
"You have to be competent in making many thousands of packages for thousands of retailers," she said. "It's a different business. Perrigo is more like a Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG - News) than a Teva."
Perrigo has practice dating back to 1887. That is when Luther Perrigo started packaging and distributing patent medicines and household items for country stores in the Midwest.
As the store-label market took off in the early 1990s, Perrigo was a prime beneficiary.
Perrigo's plants in the U.S., Mexico, Israel and the U.K. churn out billions of tablets and tons of syrups to treat common ailments such as allergies, colds, headaches and heartburn. The firm also makes the packaging to go with them.
Its products mimic household brands Tylenol, Advil, Robitussin, NyQuil, Sudafed and many others. These cheaper private-label versions sit right next to the national brands on store shelves.
Courting Stores
Perrigo's retail customers include mass-market discount, drugstore and grocery chains such as Wal-Mart (NYSE:WMT - News), Walgreens (NYSE:WAG - News) and Kroger (NYSE:KR - News). Wal-Mart is its biggest buyer, providing about 20% of the firm's annual sales.
Papa says Perrigo gets its high market share in store brands partly from the marketing and promotion it puts behind its products. That includes shelf and aisle signage and introductory kits.
But Papa admits he's in a challenging business.
Margins in this sector are low by drug-industry standards. Perrigo's gross margin is a little more than 31%. JB's margins are lower.
One of Perrigo's rivals, Leiner Health Products, filed for bankruptcy earlier this year. In July, the vitamin company NBTY (NYSE:NTY - News) bought most of its assets for $371 million.
"That tells you what a rough business this is," Weiser said.
To boost margins, Perrigo works to streamline manufacturing processes. It also plans to focus more on new, higher-margin products.
"All these special 'switch' products are higher margin than aspirin and Tylenol," Weiser said. "So these high-value products will enhance their gross margins over time. But can they go from 31% to 36% in the next five years? Maybe."
One of the higher-margin brand knockoffs Perrigo rolled out recently was for heartburn medicine Prilosec.
Perrigo expects to take in $150 million to $200 million a year from omeprazole, the active ingredient in Prilosec. That makes it the biggest product launch in the firm's history.
Perrigo's sales in its fourth quarter jumped 34% over the prior year to $500.2 million. New-product sales from copies of Prilosec and Zyrtec as well as strong sales in cough/cold, analgesic and smoking cessation lines drove much of the growth.
Two smaller units, which make prescription drugs and active drug ingredients, kicked in $38.4 million and $38.3 million, respectively. Products sales in Israel added $48.8 million. Profit rose 62% from a year ago to 39 cents a share. Full-year profit grew 78% to $1.58 a share.
Analysts figure that earnings growth will slow to the 10% to 11% range starting in July 2009. It will be tough to match the gains from this year's two sizable product launches.
But potential new products could fan the flames.
CEO Papa says Clarinex might be the next brand-name allergy drug to go over-the-counter. And he says a new wave of stomach-acid drugs might follow Prilosec down retail aisles. One candidate: Prevacid from Takeda Pharmaceutical.
Perrigo recently won a patent challenge that lets it sell its retail customers Famotidine Complete, the store-brand version of heartburn aid Pepcid Complete.
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