, Columnist
Big Pharma Puts the Price Squeeze on Itself
Drugmakers are fighting for share in increasingly crowded markets of their own making.
Looking beyond some earnings wins.
Photographer: JB Reed/Bloomberg
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Three pharma giants — Eli Lilly & Co., Pfizer Inc. and Merck & Co. — released first-quarter earnings results Tuesday that exceeded Wall Street estimates and prompted boosts to full-year profit forecasts. But problems lie beneath the beats.
Pfizer and Lilly reported muted top-line growth of 2 percent and 3 percent, respectively, reflecting weaker-than-expected sales for key drugs that are fighting for share in increasingly crowded markets. The lackluster revenue growth exposes a pricing problem for drugmakers that doesn’t have an easy solution.