Short interest in Pfizer rose 6.8 million shares to 51.1 million in December. Market fears that generics will eat away at revenues at Big Pharma is not helping.
But, Pfizer is unique now. Its new heart drug, which management said was its blockbuster of the future, was pulled from late stage trials because is use caused more deaths that current therapies. How the company will fill that hole in its pipeline is a huge and concerning question.
Pfizer’s Lipitor, which brings in $12 billion a year, will also go "off patent" soon. Merck is also claiming that its drug Vytorin is superior to Lipitor for lowering cholesterol according to a large clinical trial.
Opps.
Douglas A. McInyre can be reached at [email protected]. He does not own securities in companies that he writes about.
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