NEW YORK —  Pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly and Co. on Thursday said its pending acquisition of Icos Corp. will shave 10 cents per share off its 2007 profit, but it expects the deal to boost sales growth starting in 2008.

Lilly, maker of erectile-dysfuntion drug Cialis and schizophrenia drug Zyprexa, also backed its previous forecast for 2006.

For 2007, the company said sales are seen growing in the high single or low double-digit percentages, with earnings of $3.25 to $3.35 per share on a reported and adjusted basis.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial on average forecast earnings per share of $3.39 in 2007, but Lilly spokesman Phil Belt said the analysts' estimates do not include the effect of Lilly's pending $2.1 billion acquisition of Icos, which the company expects to lower earnings by 10 cents per share in 2007.

The Icos deal is expected to close by the end of this year and lead to accelerated sales growth starting in 2008.

The Indianapolis-based company still expects 2006 sales growth at the low end of a 7 percent to 9 percent range and earnings per share of $3.10 to $3.20 on an adjusted basis, or $2.74 to $2.84 on a reported basis. Analysts expect earnings per share of $3.15 in 2006.

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Sales are seen at $15.52 billion for this year and $16.83 billion for next year, according to Thomson. Lilly posted 2005 sales of $14.65 billion.

Lilly said it has 30 drugs under development, including 10 newly announced, to fuel its drug pipeline, and said it will focus on higher sales and productivity to weather difficult times.

"We are bringing an unprecedented number of new clinical candidates forward over the next several years, a sizable portion of which emanate from our expanded biotechnology capabilities," Sidney Taurel, Lilly chairman and chief executive, said in a statement ahead of an investor presentation later Thursday.

Lilly said it plans to launch at least one new product per year on average through the remainder of this decade, and to eventually launch two per year early in the next decade.

Also Thursday, Lilly said it submitted a new drug application last month to the Food and Drug Administration to expand the use of its osteoporosis drug Evista to reduce the risk of invasive breast cancer in postmenopausal women with osteoporosis and postmenopausal women at high risk for breast cancer.

The filing includes data from four clinical trials.

"If approved, Evista would be the only therapy to address two leading health issues for postmenopausal women _ osteoporosis and breast cancer," said Gwen Krivi, Ph.D., vice president of Lilly Research Laboratories.

For the nine months ended in September, Evista posted sales of $775 million, up fractionally from a year earlier.

Shares of Lilly fell 50 cents to $54.36 in morning trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

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