Key drug sales push Pfizer profit up by 50%

Rising sales of most key drugs, lower onetime charges and reduced manufacturing costs helped drive Pfizer’s second-quarter profit up 50 percent.

The top U.S. drugmaker beat Wall Street profit forecasts, altered its 2017 forecast and predicted that numerous lucrative drugs will be approved during the next half-decade. Still, cheaper generic competition continues to gnaw away at Pfizer’s revenue, which fell short of analyst expectations.

Meanwhile, CEO Ian Read told analysts during a conference call Tuesday that Pfizer is avoiding any big acquisitions — long its chief growth strategy — as it waits for the administration and Congress to enact tax reform. He said that would affect the valuation of assets at Pfizer and potential purchase targets.

The Viagra maker reported quarterly profit of $3.07 billion (51 cents per share), up from $2.05 billion (33 cents) a year earlier. Adjusted income of 67 cents per share beat analysts’ average estimate by 2 cents.

The New York drugmaker posted revenue of $12.9 billion, down 2 percent and below forecasts for $13.02 billion.

Top sellers, including new breast cancer drug Ibrance and blood thinner Eliquis, produced higher sales, helping lift revenue from Pfizer’s patent-protected drugs by 8 percent, to $7.67 billion. Sales at Pfizer’s essential health segment, which sells older products that are mostly off patent, dropped 14 percent to $5.23 billion.

Their sales were led by Lipitor, the cholesterol-fighting pill that reigned as the world’s top seller for a decade. Nearly six years after getting generic competition, Lipitor still ranks No. 7 in sales, at $445 million in the quarter, partly because a few newer drugs have produced lower-than-expected sales.

Some new medicines are on the way, though. In May, the company won approval for Bavencio to treat advanced bladder cancer, and Pfizer’s drug for a type of leukemia could be approved this month. But new eczema treatment Eucrisa, approved in February, managed only $9 million in secondquarter sales.

Over the next five years, Pfizer expects to win approvals for up to 18 new drugs and a halfdozen biosimilars, neargeneric versions of complex injected drugs manufactured inside cells. However, Pfizer’s first approved biosimilar — Inflectra, a near-copy of blockbuster immune disorder drug Remicade, released in November — had just $94 million in second-quarter sales, a market share of 2 percent. Pfizer executives said that commercial insurers mainly are sticking with Remicade because of deals offered by its maker, Johnson & Johnson.

Sales at Pfizer’s consumer health business edged up 1 percent, to $846 million.

Pfizer now expects adjusted full-year earnings of $2.54 to $2.60 per share, with the lower end up 4 cents from its May forecast. The company still expects 2017 revenue of $52 billion to $54 billion.

Pfizer shares fell 8 cents to close at $33.08 but recovered a bit in after-hours trading.