Par Pharma quarterly profit tops estimates on new drug sales

Aug 2 (Reuters) - Generic drugmaker Par Pharmaceutical Cos Inc posted a second-quarter profit that topped Wall Street view, helped by strong sales of its recently launched sleep-disorder drug Modafinil.

Net income for the April-June quarter was $51.3 million, or $1.38 a share, up from $9.1 million, or 25 cents a share, in the year-ago quarter.

Excluding items, Par Pharma earned $1.62 a share.

Total revenue rose 31 percent to $294.3 million and sales of Modafinil was $57.5 million. The drug, a generic version of Teva's wide-selling Provigil, was launched on April 6.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S had expected the company to earn $1.08 a share on revenue of $289.5 million.

Par agreed to be taken private by private equity firm TPG for $1.9 billion last month, the latest in a string of deals in the global generic drugs industry.

Shares of the Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey-based company closed at $49.93 on Wednesday on the New York Stock Exchange.