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BOSTON (AP) - Biogen Idec Inc.'s fourth-quarter profit nearly doubled on growing sales of treatments for cancer and multiple sclerosis, and the biotechnology company on Thursday offered a positive outlook for a new MS drug pulled from the market two years ago after patient deaths.
Cambridge-based Biogen Idec earned $108.6 million, or 32 cents per share, for the October-December period, up from $55.6 million, or 16 cents per share, a year earlier. Revenue rose 12 percent to $708.3 million compared with $632.9 million in the previous year's fourth quarter.
Excluding charges for items including acquisitions and a licensing agreement, Biogen Idec earned $184 million, or 53 cents per share — just shy of the consensus estimate of analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial, who expected a profit of 55 cents per share, not counting one-time items.
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