Shares of Forest Laboratories Inc. declined Monday after the company slashed its annual profit forecast, citing deteriorating sales of its antidepressant Lexapro. THE SPARK: Forest cut its profit forecast to a range of 65 to 80 cents per share from 95 cents to $1.10 per share. The company said annual sales of Lexapro will be about $35 million less than it previously expected, and its share of revenue from a generic version of Lexapro will be around $55 million less than expected. Forest said the price of generic Lexapro is significantly less than it expected and sales of other companies' generic versions of the drug have been strong.
