Worldwide pharmaceutical revenues were $45.1 billion for full-year 2006, a 2-percent increase compared to full-year 2005. In the U.S., revenues increased 4 percent for the full-year 2006 compared to the same period in 2005. A strong performance in the U.S. was driven by growth from several of our core products, including Lipitor (up 6 percent), Celebrex (up 24 percent), Geodon (up 31 percent), Norvasc (up 13 percent), Xalatan (up 12 percent), Zyrtec (up 15 percent), Detrol (up 14 percent), Zyvox (up 20 percent), Vfend (up 27 percent), Aromasin (up 34 percent), and Caduet (up 95 percent), as well as the successful launches of several new medicines.
Worldwide pharmaceutical operations substantially met the sales targets established at the beginning of the year for several key brands. Notwithstanding our original sales target of more than $13 billion for Lipitor, actual sales totaled $12.886 billion, representing 6-percent growth -- a substantial accomplishment in the face of intense branded and generic competition in the statin market. For Celebrex, sales of $2.039 billion exceeded our original goal of achieving sales of more than $2 billion, demonstrating that we are on our way to rebuilding physician and patient confidence in this important medicine. Worldwide sales of $1.156 billion for Lyrica significantly exceeded both the initial target of more than $900 million and the subsequent, raised target of more than $1 billion, a performance that establishes Lyrica as one of the most successful pharmaceutical market entries in recent years. Geodon reached $758 million in worldwide revenues, just short of our target of about $800 million. Nine Pfizer products surpassed $1 billion in sales in 2006, with Detrol and Lyrica joining this list for the first time.
Pharmaceutical revenues for the fourth quarter of 2006 were $11.7 billion worldwide, comparable to those in the fourth quarter of 2005, and were $6.1 billion in the U.S., down 3 percent, mainly reflecting the loss of exclusivity of Zoloft in the U.S. in June 2006. Worldwide sales of Celebrex, Geodon, and Lyrica in the fourth quarter of 2006 grew 15 percent, 32 percent, and 131 percent, respectively.
New Pfizer Products Continue to Gain Momentum
2006 was an exciting year of product launches. Against an original target of six new-product entries in the U.S., we launched four products -- Eraxis, Sutent, Exubera, and Chantix. In Europe, Sutent and Exubera entered the marketplace, and Champix (the trade name for Chantix in Europe) was launched beginning in December 2006. Several key medicines received approval for new indications in 2006, including approvals of Lyrica for central neuropathic pain and generalized anxiety disorder in the EU, and Celebrex for juvenile rheumatoid arthritis in the U.S.
Progress Achieved in New-Product Pipeline
"We continued to advance the candidates in our pipeline during the fourth quarter of 2006," said Dr. John LaMattina, President, Pfizer Global Research and Development. Maraviroc, our CCR5 receptor antagonist to treat HIV infection, was submitted for approval in the U.S. and EU in December 2006. Maraviroc has been accepted for filing and granted an accelerated review in the EU.
A supplemental NDA filing for Lyrica in the treatment of fibromyalgia was submitted to the FDA on December 20, 2006. Fibromyalgia is characterized by chronic, widespread pain that affects tens of millions of people worldwide, predominantly women. It is frequently accompanied by disturbed sleep, anxious mood, and poor quality of life. Pfizer is excited about Lyrica as a potential breakthrough for patients for treatment in this area and expects approval and launch of this new indication in the U.S. in the second half of 2007. Four new programs advanced into Phase 3 during the quarter:
* Axitinib, our next-generation anti-angiogenesis agent to treat thyroid cancer,
* CP-945,598, our cannabinoid-1 antagonist to treat obesity and its devastating complications,
* Sutent for the treatment of metastatic breast cancer, and
Zithromax/chloroquine to treat malaria, the single greatest killer of children in Africa.
Pfizer recently provided more detail on its pipeline than ever before with the launch of an on-line site for tracking development compounds across Pfizer's largest-ever pipeline. This new website, launched last month, will be updated twice a year and is available at http://www.pfizer.com/pipeline.
Pfizer Achieves Full-Year 2006 Financial Goals
In reviewing full-year 2006 results, Alan Levin, chief financial officer, said, "Pfizer delivered adjusted diluted EPS(1) of $2.06 for the full year, in line with our most recent guidance and representing growth of 6 percent compared to full-year 2005 adjusted diluted EPS(1) of $1.95. Adjusted diluted EPS(1) was well ahead of our original 2006 guidance of about $1.93 (restated to reflect the sale of our Consumer Healthcare business) due in part to greater savings associated with our broad-based Adapting to Scale (AtS) productivity program (savings of approximately $2.6 billion for the full year versus our original goal of about $2 billion), a lower effective tax rate, and fewer shares outstanding given increased share purchases. Reported diluted EPS of $2.66 included a one-time gain of $1.08 ($7.9 billion) associated with the recently completed divestiture of Pfizer Consumer Healthcare (PCH), among other factors.
"For the fourth quarter of 2006, adjusted diluted EPS(1) of $.43 declined by 12 percent relative to the comparable period in 2005, reflecting the timing of certain operating expenses in 2006. The cost of sales pre-tax component of adjusted income(1) in the quarter increased by 11 percent, reflecting the timing of implementation of inventory management initiatives, the impact of foreign exchange, and charges related to certain asset writedowns. The R&D pre-tax component of adjusted income(1) in the quarter grew by 22 percent, reflecting timing considerations associated with the advancement of development programs for pipeline products, expenditures associated with in- licensing of a new compound, and the establishment of various research collaborations with third parties, among other factors. Reported net income of $9.4 billion for the fourth quarter included a gain of $7.9 billion on the sale of our Consumer Healthcare business, as well as purchase-accounting- related charges, costs associated with our expanded AtS productivity initiative, and a $320 million charge related to the impairment of intangible assets associated with Depo-Provera, a contraceptive product.
"We will discuss our forward-looking financial guidance during this afternoon's analyst meeting," Mr. Levin concluded. - Pfizer
Posted January 22nd, 2007 by Armen Hareyan
