GlaxoSmithKline Shares Slump

Shares of (GSK Quote) stumbled Thursday after the U.K-based drug giant said 2004 would be a "transition year" in which earnings per share would be "at least in line" with that of 2003.

In afternoon trading, the company's shares were down $1.90, or 4.2%, to $43.25, after trading as $42.66.

The company said this year's results would be severely affected by the fact that three major drugs have lost or will lose patent protection. Those drugs are the antibiotic Augmentin, which went off patent in mid-2002, the antidepressant Paxil which lost U.S. patent protection last September and the antidepressant Wellbutrin, which becomes vulnerable to generic competition in mid-2004. ...