Pfizer Quarterly Sales Fall

By Dave Sebastian

Pfizer Inc. said its sales fell for the first three months of the year as it saw a slower rate of new prescriptions and vaccinations as Covid-19 shelter-in-place measures remain in place.

The New York drugmaker on Tuesday posted $12.03 billion in first-quarter sales, down 8% from the comparable quarter last year. Analysts polled by FactSet were expecting $11.81 billion.

Sales in the company's patent-protected medicines rose 11% to $10 billion, driven by sales of key brands such as blood-thinner Eliquis and breast-cancer drug Ibrance.

Sales in its Upjohn unit, which includes Lyrica and anti-impotence pill Viagra, fell 37% to $2.02 billion. Pfizer's Upjohn business is combining with Mylan NV, forming a new pharmaceutical company that is to be called Viatris. Due to the pandemic, Mylan and Pfizer pushed the transaction's expected close to the second half of the year.

Pfizer said the rate of new prescriptions for certain products and vaccination has slowed, citing fewer in-person meetings with subscribers and restrictions on patient movements due to shelter-in-place policies that weighed on the company's overall sales and marketing activity. The company expects the slowdown to carry over into the second quarter.

Pfizer said it restarted the recruitment of patients for certain ongoing studies after suspending it to make space for health-care demand related to Covid-19. However, the completion of studies in recruitment stage of those that have yet to begin could be delayed, Pfizer said.

Net income fell to $3.4 billion, or 61 cents a share, from $3.88 billion, or 68 cents a share, in the same quarter last year.

Excluding one-time items, earnings were 80 cents a share, ahead of the 73 cents a share analysts were looking for.

Dozens of companies, including Pfizer, Eli Lilly & Co. and Gilead Sciences Inc., have been hustling to develop therapies or vaccines against the virus. Pfizer has said it aims to begin testing four vaccine candidates in development with Germany's BioNTech SE by the end of the month.

Write to Dave Sebastian at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 28, 2020 07:27 ET (11:27 GMT)

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