Washington - Pfizer Inc, the worlds biggest drugmaker, Tuesday said profits were down 2 per cent and revenues were down 8.3 per cent compared to first quarter 2008 despite blockbuster drugs like the impotence pill Viagra and cholesterol-busting Lipitor. Net income dropped to 2.73 billion dollars, while revenues were down to 10.9 billion dollars, the company said.

Profits were eroded by the rising dollar, which lowered income from abroad, the company said.

Sales of Liptor, the world's best-selling cholesterol medicine, dropped 13 per cent to 2.72 billion dollars after US health insurers made an all-out-push for patients to switch to generic versions of Zocor. In some cases, US health insurers provided multiple prescriptions of generic drugs for free to encourage clients to switch.

The smoking withdrawal drug Chantix lost 36 per cent in sales, to 177 million dollars, after US regulators last year said the pill could increase suicidal thoughts and erratic behaviour, Bloomberg financial news service reported.(dpa)