Medicis readies new products as sales dip

Thursday, May 7, 2009, 7:08pm MST | Modified: Thursday, May 7, 2009, 7:13pm

Phoenix Business Journal - by Angela Gonzales

Medicis Pharmaceutical Corp. reported a decrease in revenue and net income, but recent approval of a drug to go head-to-head with Botox gives the company promise for increased sales.

The Scottsdale-based company reported $329,000 in net income on $99.8 million in revenue. That’s down considerably from $20.5 million on $129 million in revenue during the first three months of 2008. Part of the revenue drop is attributed to a one-day launch of a generic version of its leading revenue producer, Solodyn. When that happened, wholesalers ordered fewer units of Solodyn, increasing Medicis sales reserves.

Medicis Chairman and CEO Jonah Shacknai said he is encouraged by U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval to begin marketing Disport, a competitor of Botox designed to reduce facial lines and wrinkles.

“We believe this is the most important product approval in the aesthetic marketplace since Restylane some years ago,” Shacknai said to investors in a conference call May 7.

In Europe, Medicis began marketing LipoSonix body contouring technology, which it acquired for $150 million in cash last year. It has begun clinical trials in the United States to gain FDA approval for the fat buster and sales could begin in 2011 if the trials go as planned, he said.

Despite the company’s dip in revenue and net income, Shacknai was quick to remind investors that Medicis has strong cash flow, with $45.4 million cash from operations on March 31.