Pfizer revenues to slow as drugs lose exclusivity
American pharmaceutical company Pfizer warned investors of little revenue growth to come in 2019, owing partly to expiring exclusivity rights on drugs including Viagra and the seizure medicine Lyrica.
Although fourth-quarter earnings for last year, announced Tuesday, January 29, beat Wall Street estimates, Pfizer projects its revenues to register little growth in the coming year.
Pfizer projected revenue of between $52 billion and $54 billion in the forthcoming year. Total 2018 revenues were reported at $53.6 billion.
According to the company’s report, revenue growth of 2% last year was offset primarily by lower revenues for products that recently lost marketing exclusivity. Patent protection for Pfizer’s landmark erectile dysfunction drug Viagra expired in the US in December 2017.
The expiration of patent protection for its drugs cost Pfizer $1.7 billion in lost revenues last year, the report said.
Arthritis medicine Enbrel and seizure medicine Lyrica also lost exclusivity in Europe last year. Lyrica’s protection is expected to expire in the US in June 2019, CFO Frank D’Amelio said.
Expiring market exclusivity on products is expected to hit revenues by $2.6 billion in 2019, due to competition from new generic and biosimilar products.
Shares in Pfizer fell by 2.7% in premarket trading in the wake of the newly published figures, CNBC said on Tuesday. The stock recovered by more than 1% on the same day after a conference call with investors to discuss the fourth-quarter results.
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