(Reuters) - Pfizer Inc on Tuesday reported better-than-expected second-quarter profit and revenue, helped by strong demand for its pneumonia vaccine and new breast cancer drug, sending its shares up 1 percent.
The largest U.S. drugmaker, which raised its full-year earnings forecast, said revenue from its global vaccines unit rose 44 percent to $1.58 billion. The unit, which includes the Prevnar 13 pneumonia vaccine, accounted for about 13 percent of PFIZER (PFE.NY)s total revenue.
The breast cancer drug Ibrance, which gained U.S. approval in February, generated $140 million in sales in its first full quarter on the market, nearly double analysts' expectations.
"The Ibrance launch is progressing well," JP Morgan analyst Chris Schott said in a note.
The company is planning to file for European approval of Ibrance in the current quarter.
Overall, sales of cancer drugs rose 25 percent to $713 million for the quarter.
Despite years of competition from cheaper generic copies, Pfizer's cholesterol fighter Lipitor contributed sales of $509 million in the second quarter. At its height, Lipitor generated annual sales of $13 billion.
Sales of consumer healthcare products were weak, falling 8 percent to $840 million.
The drugmaker raised its adjusted profit forecast for 2015 to $2.01-$2.07 per share from $1.95-$2.05 per share.
It increased the lower end of its full-year revenue forecast to $45 billion from $44 billion, maintaining the upper end at $46 billion.
Pfizer, which got nearly two-thirds of its 2014 revenue from markets outside the United States, had cut its full-year revenue and profit forecasts in April, citing a strong dollar.
The company's second-quarter net income fell to $2.63 billion, or 42 cents per share, from $2.91 billion, or 45 cents per share, a year earlier.
Excluding items, Pfizer earned 56 cents per share, topping analysts' average expectations by 4 cents a share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
The earnings beat "was particularly impressive given that top-line foreign exchange headwind of 8 percent ($1 billion) was 1 percent higher than our forecast," BMO Capital Markets analyst Alex Arfaei said in a research note.
Revenue fell 7 percent to $11.85 billion. Wall Street was looking for $11.42 billion.
Pfizer's shares were up 36 cents at $34.70 on the New York Stock Exchange.
(Reporting by Bill Berkrot in New York and Ankur Banerjee in Bengaluru; Editing by Simon Jennings, Kirti Pandey and Paul Simao)
