Simcere Pharmaceutical Group Reports Unaudited First Quarter 20...( NANJING China May 19 Asia/ -- Sim...)

NANJING, China, May 19 /PRNewswire-Asia/ -- Simcere Pharmaceutical Group ("Simcere" or the "Company") (NYSE: SCR), a leading manufacturer and supplier of branded generic and innovative pharmaceuticals in China, today reported unaudited financial results for the quarter ended March 31, 2009.

    Highlights
    -- Total revenue increased to RMB442.5 million (US$64.8 million) for the
       first quarter of 2009 from RMB394.6 million for the corresponding
       period in 2008, representing 12.1% year-over-year growth.
    -- Income from operations was RMB61.1 million (US$8.9 million) for the
       first quarter of 2009, a decrease of 38.4% from RMB99.2 million for the
       corresponding period in 2008.
    -- Net income attributable to Simcere was RMB48.2 million (US$7.1 million)
       for the first quarter of 2009, representing a 57.0% year-over-year
       decrease.
    -- Gross margin for the first quarter of 2009 was 82.5%, compared to 83.2%
       for the corresponding period in 2008.

Mr. Jinsheng Ren, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Simcere Pharmaceutical Group, commented: "We saw solid growth in our total revenue this quarter. Sales of our edaravone injection products, the single largest contributor to our total revenue, continued to grow, while the sales performance of Endu remained a challenge. Elsewhere in our portfolio, the growth of Sinofuan and our other branded generics was encouraging."

Mr. Ren continued, "We are excited to announce today our partnership with Shanghai Celgen, a developer and producer of antibodies. Following our recent agreement with Epitomics, this is an important step forward in developing Simcere's strategic focus in the area of biopharmaceuticals. Looking forward, we will continue to seek investment and cooperation opportunities to enrich our pipel
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