SYNTEX NAPROXEN WORLDWIDE SALES APPROACH $100 MIL. IN THIRD QUARTER

Worldwide sales of naproxen and naproxen sodium increased 5% during the fiscal 1985 third quarter to $99.9 mil., Syntex announced May 23 in results for the period ended April 30. Announcing the results, Chairman Albert Bowers, PhD, said "demand for naproxen and naproxen sodium, Syntex' major pharmaceutical product line, remains strong." Sales of the NSAID line were up 11% in the U.S. during the quarter to $67.9 mil. Worldwide sales through nine months for naproxen/naproxen sodium topped $300 mil. Overall corporate sales for the quarter were down 3.8%, to $227 mil., from last year's third quarter sales of $235.9 mil. Sales for the nine months were up 1.2% to $692.7 mil. Net earnings for the quarter were up 8.6% to $37.1 mil. However, nine months earnings were off 1.7% from last year to $106 mil., the company reported. Syntex' U.S. pharmaceutical volume increase 3% in the quarter to $105.9 mil.; however, an 8% decline in foreign Rx sales to $59.9 mil. kept worldwide volume relatively static. Worldwide Rx sales dipped 1.2% to $162.8 mil. Commenting on the pharmaceutical segment's performance, Bowers said: "We are pleased that our pharmaceutical products continued to display good profitability during the third quarter." Bowers added that the firm's 3 percentage point increase in gross margin as a percent of sales was largely due to "strong margins in the pharmaceuticals business and improved performance in the diagnostics division." The company's diagnostic product sales were relatively steady with a 1% increase to $22.3 mil. for the quarter. Chart omitted.