US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer Inc. announced today that its quarterly profit has dropped by 3% but still beat forecasts thanks to healthy sales of its blockbuster drug Lipitor.
The world's largest drugmaker, which employs more than 2,000 people between its Cork and Dublin operations, said that its net income for the last quarter of 2005 was $2.73 billion. Revenue was down 9% at $13.59 billion. For the same period in 2004, the company recorded net income of $2.82 billion.
Shares in Pfizer rallied strongly when the US market opened today, advancing more than 3% to $24.85. The company was boosted by Lipitor, the world's best-selling branded prescription drug. Sales of the cholesterol lowering medicine were up 3% at $3.36 billion dollars for October, November and December of last year.
In the last quarter, Pfizer withdrew its 2006 and 2007 financial forecasts, a move which rattled Wall Street. The company said today that it planned to issue a new forecast during its annual analyst day on February 10.
Pfizer hopes to win US regulatory approval soon for three new drugs - an anti-tumour pill, a drug to help smokers beat their nicotine addiction and an anti-fungal agent.
