Pfizer Inc, world's largest pharmaceutical company, has suffered major setback in sales during the first half of 2007on account of loss of market exclusivity for Zoloft and Norvasc. The company's revenue for the first half ended June 2007 improved only by 0.3 per cent to US$ 23,558 million from $23,488 million in the corresponding period of last year. The net profit declined by 28.6 per cent to $4,659 million from $6,526 million. The earning per share also came down to $0.67 from $0.86 in the last period.

The sales of Lipitor in US declined by eight per cent to $3,521 million and that of Norvasc went down by 55 per cent to $529 million in the first half of 2007. The sales of cardiovascular and metabolic diseases products declined by 10 per cent to $ 4,764 in US and that of worldwide declined by 3 per cent to $9,238 million. The sales of Central Nervous System disorders products in the US declined by 47 per cent to $1,133 million and worldwide sales went down by 26 per cent to $2,419 million.

Jefrey Kindler, chairman and CEO, said, "While there's no question that we faced difficult challenges in the second quarter of 2007 - including the impact of the loss of US exclusivity for Zoloft and Norvasc, the timing of some expenses and Lipitor's performance in the US - we're still on track to meet our previously announced 2007 and 2008 revenue and adjusted diluted EPS goals. This underscores our ability to meet our goals despite a highly competitive and complex environment."

He said, "In particular, Chantix, Sutent and Lyrica, all innovative medicines gaining wider acceptance in their markets, performed well and delivered better-than-expected results. And I am encouraged by the progress we are making on the immediate priorities we outlined last January to strengthen our near and long-term performance."

Kindler continued, "The decline in second-quarter 2007 adjusted earnings was due to two main factors: A difficult comparison to the year-ago period, given the Zoloft and Norvasc loss of US exclusivity since that time, as well as our payments to Bristol-Myers Squibb in connection with our collaboration to develop and commercialise apixaban, an important opportunity in cardiovascular medicine where we have a strong presence."

"In addition, Lipitor, our most prescribed product, did not meet our expectations for the quarter. Worldwide Lipitor sales declined by 13 per cent in the second quarter of 2007 as compared to the same quarter last year, as a 5 per cent growth in the international markets was more than offset by a 25 per cent decline in the US. Our US Lipitor performance in the second quarter was negatively impacted by two factors we had highlighted in the first quarter of 2007 as positively impacting the brand. These two factors - changes in the US wholesaler inventory levels and differences in reconciliation of internal and external data that are normally seen each quarter to varying degrees - accounted for approximately 50 per cent of the revenue decline in the US and are not expected to have a negatives impact on US performance over the second half of the year. Other contributing factors to the second quarter's performance include the decreased level of prescriptions as well as increased rebates associated with our more flexible contracting activity."

Lipitor worldwide sales in the first half of 2007 were down two per cent as compared to the same period last year. We now expect full-year 2007 global Lipitor revenues of flat to a five per cent decline relative to the prior year. We will continue to drive Lipitor's value and its differentiation with newly approved indications, he added.

The company is taking steps to improve working and it has completed its field force reorganisation, including 20 per cent reduction in US field force and taking similar measures in the international markets and it continue to outsource where it makes sense. The company is actively balancing the actions required in R&D to achieve cost savings targets with those required to ensure enhanced R&D productivity. It continued to transform global manufacturing network to improve efficiency and reduce overall cost. The company has reduced its network of plants to 60 from 93 four years ago.