Zoloft sales soar 25 percent...

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http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/business/business-health-pfizer-earns.html

Pfizer Profits Strong on Success of Key Drugs

By REUTERS

Published: July 21, 2004

Filed at 8:24 a.m. ET

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Pfizer Inc. (PFE.N), the world's biggest drugmaker, on

Wednesday reported strong second-quarter earnings on booming sales of

cholesterol and depression drugs and merger-related cost savings.

Cholesterol medicine Lipitor, the world's top selling drug, again led the

way with sales up 17 percent to $2.36 billion.

Of Pfizer's key drugs, only Viagra -- under pressure from new competition --

posted a decrease from a year earlier. Sales of the impotence treatment were

off 7 percent at $389 million.

New York-based Pfizer posted net profit of $2.86 billion, or 38 cents per

share. That compared with a loss of $3.59 billion, or 48 cents per share, a

year-earlier, when the company took charges of almost $5.8 billion to

account for costs of its $56 billion acquisition of Pharmacia Corp.

Excluding special items, including $747 million in charges related to the

2003 Pharmacia acquisition, Pfizer earned 47 cents per share, in line with

the average forecast of 46 cents per share among analysts polled by Reuters

Estimates.

Quarterly revenue grew 24 percent to $12.27 billion, helped by a new slate

of products from Pharmacia and by the benefit of the weak dollar.

Sales of antidepressant Zoloft surged 25 percent to $789 million, while

Neurontin for epilepsy soared 32 percent to $782 million.

In June Pfizer was ordered to pay $240 million after pleading guilty to

criminal health-care fraud for promoting Neurontin for unapproved uses, such

as to treat pain and migraines.

Arthritis drug Celebrex, acquired in the Pharmacia acquisition, had sales of

$728 million for the quarter.

[Guest guest]

http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/business/business-health-pfizer-earns.html

Pfizer Profits Strong on Success of Key Drugs

By REUTERS

Published: July 21, 2004

Filed at 8:24 a.m. ET

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Pfizer Inc. (PFE.N), the world's biggest drugmaker, on

Wednesday reported strong second-quarter earnings on booming sales of

cholesterol and depression drugs and merger-related cost savings.

Cholesterol medicine Lipitor, the world's top selling drug, again led the

way with sales up 17 percent to $2.36 billion.

Of Pfizer's key drugs, only Viagra -- under pressure from new competition --

posted a decrease from a year earlier. Sales of the impotence treatment were

off 7 percent at $389 million.

New York-based Pfizer posted net profit of $2.86 billion, or 38 cents per

share. That compared with a loss of $3.59 billion, or 48 cents per share, a

year-earlier, when the company took charges of almost $5.8 billion to

account for costs of its $56 billion acquisition of Pharmacia Corp.

Excluding special items, including $747 million in charges related to the

2003 Pharmacia acquisition, Pfizer earned 47 cents per share, in line with

the average forecast of 46 cents per share among analysts polled by Reuters

Estimates.

Quarterly revenue grew 24 percent to $12.27 billion, helped by a new slate

of products from Pharmacia and by the benefit of the weak dollar.

Sales of antidepressant Zoloft surged 25 percent to $789 million, while

Neurontin for epilepsy soared 32 percent to $782 million.

In June Pfizer was ordered to pay $240 million after pleading guilty to

criminal health-care fraud for promoting Neurontin for unapproved uses, such

as to treat pain and migraines.

Arthritis drug Celebrex, acquired in the Pharmacia acquisition, had sales of

$728 million for the quarter.