Pfizer 2nd-Qtr Net Rises 38% on Viagra, New Antibiotic Sales
New York, July 9 (Bloomberg) -- Pfizer Inc. said second- quarter profit rose 38 percent as the second-largest U.S. drugmaker introduced the first impotence pill, Viagra, to unprecedented demand.
New York-based Pfizer said second-quarter profit rose to $628 million, or 47 cents a diluted share, from $457 million, or 35 cents, a year earlier. Revenue rose 25 percent to $3.63 billion from $2.91 billion after Pfizer introduced Viagra in early April.
While Pfizer benefited from sales of Viagra and of a new antibiotic, Trovan, introduced in the first quarter, it suffered some setbacks in the period. The U.S. Food and Administration rejected the company's application to sell a schizophrenia drug, Zeldox, and its anti-cholesterol drugs lost more ground to competitors.
It's just a phenomenal performance-- no pharmaceutical product has ever achieved $400 million in sales in its first quarter on the market,'' said Hemant Shah, an independent analyst, who has a ''neutral'' rating on Pfizer.
Pfizer rose 2 1/8 to 115 5/8 in late trading.
Early Viagra sales pushed Pfizer stock to a record high of 121 3/4 on April 21, letting it pass Merck & Co. briefly as the most valuable U.S. drugmaker.
Pfizer last month agreed to sell one of its medical devices unit for $2.1 billion as it focuses on its more profitable drugmaking business.
Pfizer's second-quarter results beat estimates of 44 cents a diluted share, the average of analysts polled by IBES International Inc.
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