Biovail cuts costs, hunts for acquisitions

With generic Wellbutrin XL competitors eating away at its profits, Canada's Biovail announced that the company could incur up to $100 million in restructuring charges over the next several quarters as the company shifts its focus to other opportunities. Three plants have already been shuttered and the company will pursue additional "efficiency enhancements" over the coming months. Third quarter revenue dropped to $181.1 million from $188.9 million. Earnings per share were 31 cents, down from 41 cents in 2007.

During a conference call CEO Bill Wells also said that the company is willing to cut its dividend if it means raising cash for another large acquisition. In September, Biovail paid $100 million for Prestwick Pharmaceuticals. That buyout, along with others planned in the future, are part of Biovail's plan to focus on central nervous system drugs. The company is investing $600 million over the next four years for work on epilepsy, multiple sclerosis and Parkinson's treatments.

"We're working on a number of different [acquisitions] and they range in size from the small, to one opportunity that is quite large and would accelerate our strategy by several years. Depending on [our] success... we may have to take another look at the dividend as we go forward," said Wells.

- here are Biovail's results
- read this CBC article
- see the Globe and Mail report on the acquisition