Pfizer profit falls on $2.8B charge to quit diabetes drug.......more

NEW YORK (Reuters) — Pfizer (PFE), the world's biggest drug maker, said Thursday that third-quarter earnings fell sharply, hurt by a $2.8 billion charge to end its involvement with its poor-selling Exubera inhaled insulin drug.
Results were also hurt by declining sales of cholesterol fighter Lipitor and generic competition for many of Pfizer's other medicines.

The drug maker says it earned $761 million, or 11 cents a share in the third quarter, compared with $3.36 billion, or 46 cents a share, a year earlier.

Revenue fell 2% to $11.99 billion from $12.28 billion a year earlier.

Excluding special items, profit was 58 cents a share. Analysts on average expected 52 cents, according to Reuters Estimates.