Many of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies reported mixed third-quarter results this week.
Net incomes rose at Amgen, Johnson & Johnson, Novartis and Eli Lilly but slipped at Pfizer and Abbott. Revenue and sales results at the companies varied.
Pfizer said Thursday its third-quarter net income fell to $1.5 billion from $3.3 billion. The company’s largest division, Human Health, saw worldwide revenues decline 7 percent in the third quarter, compared to the same period last year.
Abbott’s third-quarter net income fell 15 percent, but revenues were up 15 percent on sales of its arthritis drug Humira (adalimumab) at $356 million and a more than doubling of sales of arthritis drug Mobic (meloxicam) to $310 million.
Amgen reported its third-quarter net income more than tripled to $967 million from $236 million in the same period a year earlier. Much of the growth reflected soaring sales of its cancer drug Aranesp (darbepoetin alfa), which pulled in sales of $840 million in the quarter, up 38 percent from $608 million a year earlier.
Johnson & Johnson reported a 12 percent increase in third- quarter net income, but sales of the company’s prescription drugs declined 0.5 percent to $5.5 billion due to increased competition from generics.
At Novartis, third-quarter net income totaled $1.7 billion, up from $1.5 billion a year earlier. Global sales of prescription drugs rose 10 percent to $5.1 billion while generic revenues, boosted by the recent acquisition of its Sandoz unit, more than doubled to $1.5 billion.
Lilly’s third-quarter net income grew to $795 million from $755 millio, the year prior. Sales of its anti-psychotic Zyprexa (olanzapine) rose 1 percent to $1 billion while sales of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder drug Strattera (atomoxetine HCl) fell 14 percent from a year ago to $140 million.