Aug 2 (Reuters) – PerkinElmer Inc reported
higher-than-expected second quarter profit on Thursday as solid
demand for its scientific and environmental products in the
United States and emerging markets offset declines in Europe.

Bucking a trend seen with some of its peers that had to pull
back on full-year forecasts, PerkinElmer maintained its 2012
outlook for earnings of $2.00 to $2.05 per share, excluding
items, and for organic revenue growth in mid-single digit range.

July 31 (Reuters) – Life Technologies Corp on
Tuesday lowered the high end of its full year profit forecast
and said revenue would come in at the low end of its prior
outlook, citing unfavorable foreign exchange rates and weakness
in Europe.

The company also forecast lower-than-expected third quarter
profit and revenue, but said it sees fourth quarter revenue and
earnings to be higher than the third quarter.

By Bill Berkrot

(Reuters) – Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc (VRTX.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) reported further declines in sales of its hepatitis C drug Incivek and lowered its full year forecast for the medicine, but promising data on another drug for the virus lifted its shares more than 5 percent.

Vertex reported on Monday positive results from a very small, early stage trial of a hepatitis C medicine licensed from Alios BioPharma called ALS-2200 that appeared to allow investors to ignore falling Incivek sales. The experimental drug belongs to a class of medicines called nucleotide analogues, or nucs.

By Bill Berkrot

(Reuters) – Amgen Inc (AMGN.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) on Thursday reported far higher-than-expected second-quarter profit on strong demand for many of its drugs, and the world’s largest biotechnology company raised its full-year earnings and revenue forecasts.

Its shares rose by more than 4 percent in after-hours trading.

Excluding items, Amgen had adjusted earnings of $1.83 per share, topping analysts’ average expectations by 29 cents, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

July 25 (Reuters) – Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc
reported second-quarter earnings on Wednesday that exceeded Wall
Street expectations, helped by double-digit growth in specialty
diagnostics sales, and the company slightly raised its full-year
earnings forecast.

Shares of the laboratory equipment maker jumped nearly 7
percent in morning trading as investors cheered Thermo’s ability
to withstand weakness in Europe and uncertainty in academic and
government business, and still hike its forecast for the year.

By Bill Berkrot

(Reuters) – Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc (REGN.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) significantly boosted its 2012 sales forecast for its new eye drug Eylea for the third time this year as second-quarter sales of the sight-restoring medicine cruised past Wall Street’s rising expectations.

The biotechnology company said on Wednesday that it expected full-year Eylea sales of $700 million to $750 million. In April, it had forecast Eylea sales of $500 million to $550 million, nearly double its previous projection.

July 25 (Reuters) – Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc
significantly boosted its 2012 sales forecast for its new eye
drug Eylea for the third time this year as second-quarter sales
of the sight-restoring medicine cruised past Wall Street’s
rising expectations.

The biotechnology company said on Wednesday that it expected
full-year Eylea sales of $700 million to $750 million, up from
an April forecast of $500 million to $550 million that was
nearly double its previous projection.

July 23 (Reuters) – Pfizer Inc said on Monday that
its experimental Alzheimer’s disease treatment failed to prove
effective in one of four high-stakes late-stage trials in
patients with mild to moderate forms of the memory-robbing
disease.

The trial involved people who carry a variation of a gene
called ApoE4 that makes them far more likely to develop
Alzheimer’s disease. Pfizer said it and its partner Johnson &
Johnson would continue with three other late-stage
trials of their medicine, called bapineuzumab, based upon a
review by independent safety monitors.

By Bill Berkrot

(Reuters) – Intuitive Surgical Inc (ISRG.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) on Thursday cautioned that challenging economic conditions in Europe and declines in U.S. prostate surgeries were likely to persist, and its shares fell more than 5 percent.

The company continued its run of sailing past Wall Street estimates, reporting higher-than-expected second-quarter profit and revenue, driven by increased sales of its da Vinci surgical robots, and a 26 percent jump in procedures using the pricy systems.

By Bill Berkrot and Anna Yukhananov

(Reuters) – U.S. health regulators on Tuesday said they approved OraSure Technologies Inc’s in-home test for HIV, making it the first over-the-counter, self-administered test for the virus that causes AIDS.

The Food and Drug Administration gave its green light to the OraQuick In-Home HIV Test, which within 20 to 40 minutes provides results from an oral fluid sample taken by swabbing the upper and lower gums inside the mouth.