Pfizer said Thursday its third-quarter profit slipped 77 percent from a year ago to 761 million dollars amid a big writeoff by the pharmaceutical giant linked to the withdrawal of its Exubera diabetes drug.
The world's biggest pharmaceutical group, maker of blockbusters like Lipitor to lower cholesterol and the erectile dysfunction drug Viagra, said it took a charge of 2.8 billion dollars to exit Exubera, an inhaled insulin product.
But excluding one-time gains and losses, Pfizer said its profit amounted to 58 cents a share, which was six cents better than the average Wall Street forecast.
Revenues were also slightly better that expected at 11.99 billion dollars, a dip of two percent for the July-September quarter.
"We are encouraged by our operating results in the third quarter, and we remain on track" for 2007 revenue and profit goals, said Jeff Kindler, chairman and chief executive.
"Meanwhile, we made an important decision regarding Exubera, a product for which we initially had high expectations. Despite our best efforts, Exubera has failed to gain the acceptance of patients and physicians. We have therefore concluded that further investment in this product is unwarranted."
Pfizer said sales of Lipitor, one of the biggest-selling prescription drugs worldwide, fell five percent from a year ago to 3.2 billion dollars in the quarter in a market that us "highly competitive" and "increasingly cost-sensitive."
Revenues for products that lost US marketing exclusivity in 2006 and 2007, depression drug Zoloft and hypertension treatment Norvasc, declined 54 percent in the third quarter of 2007 compared to last year.
Viagra sales were up six percent from a year ago at 450 million dollars.
