Astra's Crestor faces generic threat

By Ben Hirschler

LONDON (Reuters) - AstraZeneca (AZN.L) said on Thursday its blockbuster cholesterol medicine Crestor faced a generic challenge from Canada's Cobalt Pharmaceuticals, as third-quarter profits fell 14 percent.

Cobalt's application for U.S. regulatory approval to sell a copy of Crestor is a fresh blow to the Anglo-Swedish group, which is already fighting generic threats to its two biggest revenue generators, Nexium and Seroquel.

Industry analysts said Cobalt was trying to get in ahead of rival generic manufacturers and it still faced a likely three-year legal battle against the patents defending Crestor.

The news overshadowed third-quarter results from Britain's second-biggest drugmaker which showed pretax profits of $1.89 billion (908 million pounds) on sales up 10 percent at $7.15 billion, equivalent to earnings per share of 91 cents -- better than some analysts had feared.

Shares in the group were 0.9 percent lower at 23.52 pounds by 12:20 p.m..

The average industry analyst forecast for EPS had been 85.4 cents in a Reuters poll of 18 analysts, reflecting competition from cheap generics plus acquisition and restructuring charges.

The company said it was on track to achieve its full-year target for underlying earnings per share in the range of $3.60 to $3.75, excluding restructuring costs and U.S. sales of heart drug Toprol XL.

Top-seller Nexium had a lacklustre quarter, reflecting pressure on the gastric acid treatment from generic omeprazole, an older medicine.