Revenue during the quarter went up marginally by 2.80 percent to $44.06 million from $42.86 million in the previous year period. Gross margin for the quarter contracted 96 basis points over the previous year period to 86.86 percent. Total expenses were 83.19 percent of quarterly revenues, up from 70.39 percent for the same period last year. That has resulted in a contraction of 1280 basis points in operating margin to 16.81 percent.

Operating income for the quarter was $7.41 million, compared with $12.69 million in the previous year period.

Friedhelm Blobel, PhD, SciClone’s chief executive officer, commented: "We are pleased with our performance in the fourth quarter and year to date 2016, which is in line with our expectations, and reflects the value and continued growth potential of our core business, led by ZADAXIN. ZADAXIN’s volume growth continues to out-perform the growth rate of the China pharmaceuticals market, underscoring its strength as the leading thymalfasin brand, with a 17% volume share and more than a 40% value share. We are confident that ZADAXIN has significant growth potential as a differentiated, high quality, Western-manufactured brand, and that the marketplace demand will remain strong in 2017."

For fiscal year 2017, SciClone Pharmaceuticals, Inc forecasts revenue to be in the range of $170 million to $175 million. The company expects diluted earnings per share to be in the range of $0.60 to $0.64 on adjusted basis.