FDAnews Drug Daily Bulletin

Novartis Profit Falls Amid Restructuring (Pharmalot)
In his blog, Ed Silverman writes about Novartis’ report of its fourth-quarter profit, which missed analyst estimates because of generic competition to its heart medicine Lotrel and antifungal Lamisil.

“Net profit attributable to shareholders fell to $904 million from $1.65 billion, while net profit from continuing operations was down 42 percent at $931 million from $1.6 billion. The figures include a charge of $444 million for an ongoing cost-savings program. Sales rose 6 percent to $9.93 billion,” Silverman writes.

According to a Bloomberg News report, the company’s stock dropped after CEO Dan Vasella said the drugmaker will not grow faster than its peers until the fourth quarter.