UPDATE 1-Daiichi Sankyo, Eisai see earnings growth

TOKYO, May 15 (Reuters) - Japanese drug makers Daiichi Sankyo Co. Ltd (4568.T) and Eisai Co. Ltd. (4523.T) forecast earnings growth this year, boosted by the strong sales of mainstay products and the absence of a government price cut.

Daiichi Sankyo's high blood pressure medication Benicar and Eisai's Aricept drug for Alzheimer's disease have both done well in the United States, the world's biggest pharmaceutical market, where reforms to the Medicare system have extended care for the elderly.

Daiichi Sankyo said recurring profit -- which is before tax and extraordinary items -- fell 4.8 percent to 152.1 billion yen

($1.26 billion), partly due to government price cuts. It forecast an 8.5 percent increase to 165 billion yen for the year that started in April.

The outlook compares with a consensus of 178 billion yen from 17 analysts polled by Reuters Estimates and 170 billion yen flagged by the Nikkei business daily last week.

Daiichi Sankyo has one of the richest pipelines among Japanese drug makers and earlier this year announced plans to double its U.S. sales staff, seeking to capitalise on a wealth of new drugs expected to come to market.

The drug maker, formed when Sankyo bought Daiichi Pharmaceutical in 2005 last year surprised analysts and itself with cost-cutting results and sales strength as it integrated the new firms, revising up its earnings forecasts four times.

Eisai, which just won an important patent ruling for its acid reflux drug Aciphex last week, said it expected pretax profit to climb 4 percent to 115 billion yen after a 10 percent rise in the last business year.

The forecast is below the consensus of 125 billion yen.

Aricept, used by some 30 percent of Alzheimer's sufferers in the United States, will continue to be the company's main driver of earnings growth, particularly after U.S. authorities extended its use to the treatment of severe Alzheimer's dementia.

In afternoon trade, Daiichi Sankyo's shares were down 1.4 percent at 3,480 yen while Eisai's stock fell 1.6 percent to 6,130 yen. Both were underperforming a 0.6 percent decline in the pharmaceutical subindex .IPHAM.T.

Astellas Pharma Inc (4503.T) will be announcing at 3.00 p.m.

(O600 GMT).

((Reporting by Edwina Gibbs, Reuters messaging: edwina.gibbs.reuters.com@reuters.net; email edwina.gibbs.@reuters.com; +81 3 3432-8720)) Keywords: DRUGS JAPAN/RESULTS

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