Lilly says generic competition hurts fourth-quarter profit, sales

(Reuters) – Eli Lilly and Co said on Tuesday that fourth-quarter profit fell as competition from generic drugs, particularly for its once top-selling schizophrenia drug Zyprexa, drove revenue lower. The U.S. drugmaker earned $827 million, or 74 cents per share, down from $858 million, or 77 cents per share, a year earlier. Excluding special items such as asset impairments and restructuring, Lilly earned 85 cents per share, beating analysts’ expectations by 7 cents per share. …