(Reuters) - Celgene Corp reported higher-than-expected quarterly profit on Thursday, driven by strong demand for its multiple myeloma drug Revlimid and improving sales of psoriasis drug Otezla, sending its shares up 2 percent in premarket trading.
Celgene said on Monday it would buy Juno Therapeutics Inc for $9 billion, paying $87 per share for the roughly 90 percent of Juno it does not already own.
Celgene makes more than 60 percent of its revenue from Revlimid, sales of its blockbuster drug grew 21 percent to $2.19 billion, above the consensus estimate of $2.18 billion, according to brokerage Cowen & Co.
Otezla sales of $371 million also beat estimates of $337 million.
The U.S. biotechnology company posted a net loss of $81 million, or 10 cents per share, in the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31, from a profit of $429 million, or 53 cents per share, a year earlier.
Celgene took a $1.21 billion income tax charge in the quarter.
Excluding items, the company earned $2 per share, beating the average analyst estimate of $1.97, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
Revenue rose to $3.48 billion from $2.98 billion.
Celgene, which preannounced its 2017 and 2018 unaudited results earlier this month, reiterated its 2018 forecast.
(Reporting by Akankshita Mukhopadhyay in Bengaluru; Editing by Martina D'Couto)
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