Pfizer Lowers 2007 Outlook on Norvasc

Pfizer now forecasts adjusted earnings per share of $2.08 to $2.15, down from a previous range of $2.18 to $2.25. Fiscal 2007 revenue is seen ranging between $47 billion and $48 billion.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial had estimated the company would post adjusted profit of $2.17 per share on revenue of $48 billion.

In late March, an appeals court invalidated Pfizer's patent for Norvasc, allowing drug maker Mylan Laboratories Inc. to begin selling a generic version of the drug, which cut into about a week of Pfizer's sales for the first quarter. Pfizer's Norvasc sales dropped 10 percent to $1.07 billion out of total first-quarter revenue of $12.47 billion. Pfizer had hoped to retain patent protection on the drug until September.

Though the loss of patent exclusivity will cut an estimated $1.2 billion from 2007 revenue, Pfizer said favorable exchange rates will partly make up for lost Norvasc sales by adding $450 million to the company's topline. The weaker U.S. dollar makes Pfizer's products cheaper, and therefore more attractive, to international markets.

The impact of diabetes drug Exubera also remains to be seen, since sales of the inhaled insulin have so far disappointed the company and Wall Street. Pfizer said its revised outlook takes into account slower market acceptance for the product.

The company forecast 2008 revenue of $46.5 billion to $48.5 billion, given uncertainty over the status of the Canadian patent for Pfizer's best-selling drug Lipitor and the loss of an estimated $300 million in revenue from Norvasc, which will be partly offset by $450 million of sales stemming from the weaker U.S. dollar.

Analysts estimate revenue of $47.37 billion for the year.

Shares closed Thursday at $27.07 on the New York Stock Exchange, and dipped 22 cents in premarket electronic trading.