Pfizer and Eli Lilly, Squeezed by Generics, Top Forecasts Competition from low-cost generic drugs squeezed quarterly profits at Pfizer Inc. and Eli Lilly & Company, the companies reported on Tuesday, but each was able to weather those declines somewhat with help from other medicines. Pfizer, the world's biggest drug maker by revenue, and Lilly topped Wall Street's profit expectations. Lilly also said its closely watched experimental Alzheimer's treatment received approval for further study. For Pfizer and Lilly, the fourth-quarter results were the first since they lost United States patent protection on their top-selling medicines. Sales of Pfizer's Lipitor cholesterol treatment, long the world's top-selling drug, dropped 24 percent, to about $2 billion. In the United States, where Lipitor lost patent protection in late November, sales fell 42 percent. Sales of Lilly's Zyprexa antipsychotic drug, for years the company's biggest product, fell 44 percent, to $750 million. Sales in the United States, where the pill lost patent protection in October, plunged 56 percent. Pfizer's fourth-quarter net income fell 50 percent, to $1.44 billion, or 19 cents a share, compared with $2.89 billion, or 36 cents a share, in the period a year earlier. Pfizer said results in the latest quarter appeared unfavorable in part because of a big tax benefit in the year-earlier period. Excluding special items, earnings of 50 cents a share topped Wall Street's target by 3 cents, according to Thomson Reuters. Revenue fell 4 percent, to $16.75 billion. Softening the Lipitor declines, some of Pfizer's other important drugs scored moderate sales gains, helped by price increases. Sales of the arthritis treatment Enbrel and the painkiller Celebrex each rose 7 percent, with Enbrel at $865 million and Celebrex, $622 million. Sales of the impotence treatment Viagra rose 5 percent, to $523 million. Pfizer's strongest gains came from its nutritional products and animal health units, businesses it is considering selling or spinning off. Sales of animal health brands rose 13 percent, to $1.1 billion, while sales of nutritional products - including baby formula and maternity supplements - jumped 22 percent, to $598 million. The company said on Tuesday that any separation of those businesses, which analysts say could bring in $16 billion, would take place between July 2012 and July 2013. Pfizer trimmed its 2012 financial forecasts, largely because of the negative impact of the stronger dollar. It projected 2012 earnings of $2.20 to $2.30 a share, excluding items. That range was down from its earlier outlook of $2.25 to $2.35. Shares of Pfizer fell 18 cents, or 0.8 percent, to $21.40. At Lilly, fourth-quarter net income fell 27 percent, to $858.2 million, or 77 cents a share, compared with $1.17 billion, or $1.05 a share, in the period a year earlier. Excluding one-time items, earnings were 87 cents a share, 6 cents ahead of analyst estimates. Global revenue fell 2 percent, to $6.05 billion. Sales growth of other top drugs helped counter Zyprexa's declines, in large part because of price increases. Sales of the antidepressant Cymbalta, which itself goes generic next year, jumped 20 percent, to $1.18 billion. Sales of the lung cancer treatment Alimta rose 12 percent, to $638 million, while Humalog insulin climbed 21 percent, to $662 million. An independent data-monitoring committee overseeing two Phase III trials of Lilly's solanezumab Alzheimer's treatment recommended the studies continue without changes, the company said. Trial data is expected in the second half of the year. Shares of Lilly rose 49 cents, or 1.3 percent, to $39.74.