Pfizer profit just misses; company scraps cholesterol drug

Pfizer Inc, the largest US drugmaker, reported a quarterly adjusted profit that just missed analysts' estimates, and the company shaved 4 cents off its 2016 earnings forecast after scrapping development of a cholesterol-lowering treatment.

The drugmaker earned 61 cents per share in the third quarter, excluding special items, missing the average analyst estimate by 1 cent, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Pfizer's new breast cancer treatment, Ibrance, generated sales of USD550 million, missing the consensus forecast of USD576 million compiled by Evercore ISI.

The company's Lyrica pain drug brought in sales of USD1.05 billion, missing expectation of USD1.28 billion, but its Prevnar vaccine generated USD1.54 billion, above the forecast of USD1.48 billion.

Pfizer also said on Tuesday it was abandoning the development of its cholestrol-lowering drug, bococizumab, citing an "evolving treatment landscape".

The company lowered the upper end of its 2016 adjusted earnings forecast to USD2.43 from USD2.48 per share, while retaining the lower end at USD2.38.

Pfizer also bumped up the lower end of its revenue forecast to USD52 billion from USD51 billion, while reaffirming the upper end at USD53 billion.

Bococizumab, which belongs to a pricey new class of medicines called PCSK9 inhibitors, was always going to be late to the party, since two rival drugs hit the market last summer - Praluent, co-developed by Regeneron and Sanofi SA and Repatha from Amgen Inc.

Pfizer's shares were down about 1 percent at USD31.40 in premarket trading.