Cheshire drug maker Alexion Pharmaceuticals, which lost its chairman Max Link earlier this month, said its third-quarter profits increased 89 percent, thanks to booming sales of its blood-disorder drug Soliris.
Profits for the quarter ended Sept. 30 were $177.7 million, or 88 cents per diluted share, up from $93.8 million, or 47 cents, a year ago.
Soliris sales increased 39 percent, from $400.4 million to $555.1 million.
The company said the higher sales were due to having more patients in more countries.
Alexion is also pursuing a treatment for hypophosphatasia, another ultra-rare disease. It hopes to launch its asfotase alfa drug in 2015.
The company revised upward its revenue expectations for the full year, from a range of $2.18 billion to $2.20 billion to a range of $2.22 billion to $2.225 billion.
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