| Pfizer profits up
as pain hits rivals
January 20, 2005
PFIZER reported a fourfold increase in profits
in the fourth quarter as it received an artificial
boost from its painkillers Celebrex and Bextra
after the rival Vioxx was withdrawn from the
market.
Worldwide sales of Celebrex rose 24 per cent
from the same period in 2003 to $1 billion (£530
million), while sales of Bextra surged 57 per
cent to $417 million. These drugs are also now
under the scrutiny of US regulators, along with
the entire class of medicines known as Cox-2
inhibitors.
Merck, the rival drugmaker, withdrew Vioxx
after a study showed that normal doses could
double the risk of heart attack and stroke after
18 months. Last month, Pfizer said that one
study of Celebrex showed similar safety issues.
The US Food and Drug Administration warned
Pfizer last year that its advertisements made
misleading statements about the safety and efficacy
of Bextra and Celebrex.
Pfizer, the world’s largest drugs provider,
said that net income for the period from October
to December was $2.83 billion, or 38 cents a
share, on revenues that rose 7 per cent to $14.92
billion. That compared with $602 million, or
8 cents a share, in the same period a year earlier,
on revenues of $13.98 billion. The company said
that generic competitors could diminish its
sales, but gave no indication of its likely
performance this year. Instead it indicated
that it would provide a forecast in April.
Pfizer credited much of its success to sales
of Lipitor, its blockbuster cholesterol medicine,
sales of which rose 23 per cent in the quarter,
to $3.3 billion. Sales of Viagra,
its leading erectile
dysfunction drug, advanced just 8 per cent
in the period to $469 million, as competitors
released rivals such as Eli Lilly’s Cialis
and GlaxoSmithKline’s Levitra. Sales of
Zoloft, its antidepressant, rose by a modest
7 per cent to $959 million.
Zoloft has suffered along with all selective
serotonin reuptake inhibitors, the most commonly
prescribed antidepressants, following fears
regarding the use of such drugs in children.
Last month, Eli
Lilly, which introduced Prozac in 1988,
said that the market could remain dampened until
2007 because of side-effect concerns.
France’s drug regulator has requested
more clinical information about AstraZeneca’s
anticoagulant drug, Exanta, before considering
licensing it for long-term use.
France is acting as the review nation for the
product within the European Union. Exanta was
rejected by US regulators last year because
of concerns about potential liver damage.
source:-http://business.timesonline.co.uk
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