Pfizer enjoy €2.88bn net income in third quarter

Pfizer enjoyed net income of $2.88bn in the third quarter of the year, it has been announced.

Profit at the firm, which has already shed 5,400 jobs worldwide this year, with a further 19,000 to follow on a phased basis, rose by 26%.

The firm, the world’s biggest drug maker is currently updating workers on the consequences of its $68bn takeover of Wyeth.

The firm is currently deciding what cutbacks to make in its research facilities — there is a major one in Cork — following the acquisition.

The company restructuring has also being prompted by the fact that it will have generic competition for its cholesterol treatment drug, Lipitor, in 2011.

The treatment, the best selling drug in the world, is manufactured exclusively in Cork.

Demand for the drug has been falling since 2006 when generic copies of a rival pill, Merck & Co.’s Zocor, came on the market.

In July, the company said it would invest more than €11m in the establishment of a research and development laboratory at its Ringaskiddy site, with the support of Government through IDA Ireland.

The laboratory, a dedicated R&D facility within the Process Development Centre (PDC) at the site will research, develop and create new manufacturing technology for more efficient production processes for Pfizer’s facilities around the world.

Revenue worldwide declined 3% to $11.6bn (€7.73bn), topping analyst estimates by $200m (€133.4m).

The company raised its earnings forecast to between $1.45 and $1.50 a share.

Article courtesy of The Evening Echo newspaper.