By Allison Prang 

This article is being republished as part of our daily reproduction of WSJ.com articles that also appeared in the U.S. print edition of The Wall Street Journal (July 12, 2018).

Pfizer Inc. is organizing itself into three different businesses as it continues to mull the future of its over-the-counter medicines unit.

The drugmaker said Wednesday it will have an innovative medicines business, a consumer health-care division, which includes the company's over-the-counter drugs, and an established medicines division, which would have brands such as Viagra and Lipitor.

The company said the innovative medicines and consumer health-care divisions will make up around 75% of Pfizer's revenue.

Pfizer has been reviewing strategic options for the consumer health-care business, which sells brands like Advil pain medicine, Centrum vitamins and ChapStick lip balm, since last year. The company expects to make a decision regarding the business this year.

Pfizer said the changes will go into effect next year and don't affect its 2018 guidance or its capital-allocation plans.

Pfizer expects to lose U.S. exclusivity of Lyrica, a painkiller for helping with diabetic nerve pain and fibromyalgia, as early as December. However, the company said it thinks its established-brands division -- which includes that treatment -- "has the potential to generate sustainable modest revenue growth."

"Urbanization and the rise of the middle class in emerging markets, particularly in Asia, are providing additional access opportunities and generating significant demand for branded and generic established medicines," the company said.

Shares in Pfizer rose less than 0.1% in premarket trading. The stock has gained 3.3% so far this year.

Right now, Pfizer divides its medicines into two different groups when it reports earnings -- innovative health, which includes Lyrica along with oncology and rare-disease treatments, and essential health, which includes products like Lipitor, Xanax and the EpiPen along with sterile injectable pharmaceuticals.

Revenue for Lyrica in the company's latest quarter was $1.13 billion, flat from the comparable quarter a year earlier. The drug brought in the second-most revenue of any other treatment in the company's innovative health division.

Pfizer had announced Tuesday that it was going to hold off in upping some of its drug prices after talking with President Donald Trump. The company said delaying the increases was "to give the president an opportunity to work on his blueprint to strengthen the healthcare system."

Mr. Trump has made an effort to lower drug prices. It was previously reported that Pfizer was raising prices for over 40 prescription drugs, including Lyrica.

Write to Allison Prang at allison.prang@wsj.com

 

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 12, 2018 02:47 ET (06:47 GMT)

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