US drugmaker Eli Lilly has posted a sharp drop in second-quarter profit, hurt by declining sales of its flagship antidepressant Prozac, which has been facing generic competition since August.
Income fell 20 per cent to $658.5 million, or 61 cents per share.
Analysts' estimates ranged from 60 cents to 62 cents per share, with an average forecast of 61 cents, according to Thomson First Call. Sales fell 9 per cent to $2.78 billion.
The results represent the fourth consecutive earnings decline for Lilly, which has struggled to overcome the loss of US patent protection for Prozac last year as well as manufacturing problems that have delayed approval of key medicines for osteoporosis and schizophrenia. Lilly hopes to overcome the Prozac slump by bringing a slew of new medicines to market from its lineup of drugs in development.
