Zeltia's 9-month net income rises 10%

Spanish drugmaker Zeltia SA says that its net revenues in the first nine months of 2006 rose 10% on the comparable period of the previous year, to 64.3 million euros ($82.8 million), due to a strong performance from its consumer chemical subsidiaries, which achieved a 16% income rise to 59.5 million euros.

Zeltia's biotechnology subsidiaries, PharmaMar and Genomica, generated 4.9 million euros in revenues. The group's expenditure on R&D increased 19% to 36.8 million euros, of which 28.1 million euros were spent by PharmaMar and 7.6 million euros by NeuroPharma.

During the period, the independent data monitoring committee on a Phase III trial of PharmMar's potential cancer drug Yondelis (trabectedin) in ovarian cancer, recommended pursuing the trial without any changes. The drug is subject to a licensing and co-development accord with US health care major Johnson & Johnson.