Pfizers Q2 revenues hurt by loss of Lipitor patent

Pfizer has posted a decline in revenues for the second quarter of 2012,  which ended June 30. The company attributed the decline to the loss of the Lipitor patent and an unfavorable impact of foreign exchange. Declining costs in production, marketing and due to restructuring have led to a net income jump of 25 percent.

Second quarter 2012 revenues were $15.1 billion, a decrease of 9 percent compared with $16.5 billion in the year-ago quarter, which reflected an operational decline of $977 million, or 6 percent, and the unfavorable impact of foreign exchange of $451 million, or 3 percent. The pharma giant also said its net income was $3.25 billion, up from $2.61 billion, or 25 percent, a year earlier.

For second quarter 2012, U.S. revenues were $5.7 billion, a decrease of 15 percent compared with the year-ago quarter. “This decrease was primarily the result of the U.S. loss of exclusivity of Lipitor on Nov. 30, 2011,” reported the New York City-based company in a release.

International revenues were $9.3 billion, a decrease of 5 percent compared with the prior-year quarter, primarily due to the unfavorable impact of foreign exchange. U.S. revenues represented 38 percent of total revenues in second quarter 2012 compared with 41 percent in the year-ago quarter, while international revenues represented 62 percent of total revenues in second quarter 2012 compared with 59 percent in the year-ago quarter.

Specifically, Pfizer said its primary care unit revenues decreased 31 percent operationally in comparison with the same period last year, primarily due to the loss of exclusivity of Lipitor in the U.S. and the resulting shift in the reporting of U.S. Lipitor revenues to the established products unit beginning Jan. 1. U.S. branded Lipitor revenues, as reported by the established products unit, decreased to $296 million, from $1.4 billion reported by the primary care unit in second quarter 2011, due to the loss of exclusivity and the entry of multi-source generic competition in May, the company said.

Collectively, Pfizer said that the decline in worldwide revenues for Lipitor and for certain other primary care unit products that lost exclusivity in various markets in 2012 and 2011, as well as the resulting shift in the reporting of certain product revenues to the established products unit, reduced primary care unit revenues by approximately $2 billion, or 34 percent, in comparison with second quarter 2011. The impact of these declines was partially offset by the strong growth of neuropathic pain medication pregabalin (Lyrica) and osteoarthritis/ rheumatoid arthritis pain medication celecoxib (Celebrex).