Pharmaceutical company intelligence reports from Espicom provide a full review of the company's activities together with five-year sales forecasts for its key products. The company's financial performance is covered in-depth, from its latest results to a complete analysis of its latest full fiscal year and an outlook for the future. A section on company strategy covers mergers, acquisitions and divestitures, key agreements, products and R&D. An overview of key products and R&D is followed by a comprehensive review of the company's product portfolio and research and development pipeline by therapeutic area. In addition, supplementary appendices provide more in-depth information on financials, agreements and corporate events. Forest Laboratories and its subsidiaries develop, manufacture and market branded and generic forms of prescription and non-prescription pharmaceutical products, primarily in the US and Europe. Its major products include Namenda for the treatment of moderate-to-severe Alzheimer's disease, Lexapro for depression and generalised anxiety disorder, Benicar for hypertension and Campral for the maintenance of abstinence from alcohol in patients who are abstinent at treatment initiation.

During fiscal 2006, Forest has attempted to surmount the loss of Celexa, a major product that was selling around US$1,000.0 million before the entry of generics. This revenue reduction has been offset somewhat by sales growth for both Lexapro and Namenda, and an increase in Benicar co-promotion income, consequently, in 2007, Forest achieved earnings growth and record sales. However, the loss of Celexa leaves Forest substantially dependent on the sales of its two principal products, Lexapro and Namenda, which is somewhat risky. In addition, it needs to replace these current products when their exclusivity expires, by expanding its pipeline.

Since Forest lacks the R&D budget of big pharma, its pipeline is dependent on the licensing and acquisition of new product opportunities. However, competition for potential products is high. Although it has had recent success, it does not have the products in place to replace Lexapro and Namenda, so its licensing activity over the next year will be crucial for the company's future. Further, its major agreement with Lundbeck expires in 2010.

The acquisition of Cerexa provides Forest with major opportunities in an entirely new therapeutic area, the hospital injectable anti-infective market, which urgently needs innovative drugs because of the persistent and inevitable development of increased resistance to existing antibiotics; Cerexa's most advanced product, ceftaroline, is now in Phase III studies.