Sterling Drug Inc. reported its full-year profit...

Sterling Drug Inc. reported its full-year profit rose 15% from a year earlier, helped by strong sales of pharmaceutical products. Revenue for the 12 months expanded 16% to $2.3 billion from a year earlier. The company noted a sharp jump in domestic sales of pharmaceutical specialties, sparked by the strong success of the imaging agent Omnipaque. Omnipaque, used for medical diagnoses, is in its second year of marketing. New York-based Sterling said sales of proprietary products were led by a 16% gain in sales of Bayer aspirin. It attributed the increase to an “effective consumer education program” for the use of aspirin in the prevention of second heart attacks and to treat unstable angina.