Lilly Trims Forecast as Prozac Sales Plunge

Eli Lilly & Co. cut its fourth-quarter profit expectations, mainly because of a plunge in sales of its onetime top-selling drug, the antidepressant Prozac, which lost patent protection in August.

The Indianapolis-based company said new drugs planned for release next year will restore strong earnings by 2003, and said it plans to double its global sales force within the next four years to help meet its sales goals.

Prozac was Lilly’s flagship medicine in 2000, with global sales of $2.5 billion. The picture changed dramatically two months ago, when U.S. patent protection on the 13-year-old drug expired and cheaper copycat medicines hit drugstores.

Lilly said it now expects fourth-quarter earnings of 59 cents to 61 cents, down from the 63 cents to 67 cents forecast earlier. For the third quarter ended Sept. 30, it said results would match Wall Street expectations of 66 cents.

Analysts had been looking for fourth-quarter earnings of 65 cents on average, according to Thomson Financial/First Call.

Lilly reaffirmed previous expectations that sales growth will be in the tepid single-digit range next year. But the company said its fortunes will improve in 2003 with earnings growth in the “high-teen” percentage range, due in part to the planned release of five new products next year, including treatments for osteoporosis, impotence and depression.

Lilly shares fell $3.62 to close at $79.25 on the New York Stock Exchange.