Non-pharma units lift Pfizer earnings

Pfizer has reported earnings that beat analysts’ estimates as the company’s non-pharmaceutical units and cost-cutting overcame losses from generic competition to its best-seller Lipitor.

Net income fell 50% from a year earlier to $1.44bn (€1.094bn), or 19 cents a share, after the world’s largest drugmaker lost patent exclusivity for the cholesterol pill Lipitor, Pfizer said. Pfizer employs close to 1,650 people in Ireland.

A decline in sales from prescription drugs was countered by revenue increases at the animal health unit and infant nutrition business, two divisions chief executive Ian Read has said are slated to be spun off or sold. The company reduced costs by 9% in the quarter.