NEW YORK (AP) — Pfizer said today that its fourth-quarter profit fell by half due to one-time charges and a drop in U.S. revenue, which was hurt by blockbuster cholesterol drug Lipitor losing patent protection.
It still beat Wall Street expectations, but the drugmaker trimmed its full-year earnings outlook.
The maker of Viagra said net income was $1.44 billion, or 19 cents per share, down from $2.89 billion, or 36 cents per share, a year earlier.
Adjusted income was $3.86 billion, or 50 cents a share, down from $3.74 billion, or 47 cents a share, a year earlier. They typically exclude one-time items.
Revenue was $16.7 billion, down from $17.4 billion in 2010's fourth quarter.
Earnings and revenue topped expectations of 47 cents per share on revenue of $16.61 billion.
The company forecast 2012 earnings per share of $2.20 to $2.30, down a nickel from its last forecast.
Patent losses cost the company $5 billion, CEO Ian Read said in a statement.
While Pfizer now has generic competition to several former blockbusters, the key hit was to Lipitor, whose U.S. patent expiration on Nov. 30 was the most closely watched event in the industry last year. With just a month left in the quarter after that, Lipitor sales still fell 42 percent in the U.S. and 24 percent worldwide.
The world's top-selling drug ever, Lipitor brought Pfizer $10.7 billion in 2010, most of that from the U.S. The world's biggest drugmaker fought to retain much of that money for the time being with an unprecedented strategy, continuing consumer ads for the popular pill and offering patients and insurers big discounts to stay on brand-name Lipitor. It also jointly marketed an authorized generic version with Watson Pharmaceuticals Inc.