FALLING PROFIT: Swiss drugmaker Novartis AG reported a 47 percent drop in its fourth-quarter net profit Wednesday, citing a slate of exceptional costs from the ending of clinical trials to manufacturing problems and layoffs.
THE NUMBERS: Novartis said its net profit reached $1.21 billion in the fourth quarter, compared with $2.32 billion in the same period in 2010. Sales rose 4 percent to $14.78 billion.
THE CHARGES: Novartis booked a $900 million charge as a result of halting a clinical trial into wider uses of the blood-pressure drug Tekturna after it was found to cause complications in patients taking other drugs.
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