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Wyeth’s Net Income Rises 13%

July 22, 2007

Wyeth’s second-quarter income rose 13% due to continued strong sales of Prevnar, its vaccine for pneumococcal diseases, and its arthritis drug Enbrel.

The Madison, N.J., pharmaceutical company, which also raised its 2007 earnings guidance, said net income rose to $1.2 billion, or 87 cents a share, from $1.06 billion, or 78 cents a share, a year earlier.

Results from the latest quarter included a charge of three cents a share from productivity initiatives, and the year-earlier quarter included charges of two cents a share. Excluding items, earnings rose to 90 cents from 80 cents a share.

Wyeth said revenue rose almost 10% to $5.65 billion from $5.16 billion a year earlier. On average, analysts polled by Thomson Financial expected earnings of 87 cents a share and revenue of $5.48 billion.

Sales of Effexor, Wyeth’s top-selling antidepressant drug, rose 6% to $997 million. Earlier this month, Wyeth filed a patent-infringement lawsuit against Mylan Laboratories Inc. to stop the company from selling a generic version of its blockbuster Effexor XR antidepressant. Effexor had $3.7 billion in sales in 2006 and is the best-selling antidepressant in the world. Wyeth claims the patents for Effexor XR — the extended-release version — expire in 2017.

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Last year, Wyeth settled a patent-infringement case with generic drug maker Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. regarding Effexor. Teva now sells generic versions of the immediate-release version of Effexor, which comprise a small portion of overall Effexor sales.

During the quarter, Prevnar sales jumped 22% to $633 million, and international sales of Enbrel climbed 37% to $508 million. Wyeth co-markets Enbrel — which treats rheumatoid arthritis and psoriasis — with Amgen Inc. Amgen handles sales in North America.

Wyeth’s divisions performed well: The consumer-health unit posted a revenue increase of 4% to $623 million, while animal-health sales increased 2% to $279 million. The pharmaceuticals division reported a sales jump of 11% to $4.75 billion.

Wyeth raised its 2007 earnings guidance to a range of $3.48 to $3.56 a share from $3.40 to $3.50 a share, excluding items. On average, analysts are expecting earnings of $3.49 a share.

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