Wyeth reports 11% increase in first-quarter revenues

Wyeth has published its financial figures for the first quarter of the 2007 fiscal year. During the quarter the company generated revenues of $5.4 billion (2.7 billion pounds), an increase of 11 per cent on the first quarter of 2006.

Net income rose to $1.25 billion, up from $1.12 billion in the same quarter last year, while diluted earnings per share rose from $0.82 to $0.92

These figures were driven by an 11 per cent increase in net pharmaceuticals revenues, attributed to the performance of Enbrel, Prevnar, Zosyn and a number of nutrition products, though these sales were offset by the performance of Effexor, Premarin and Protinix products.

Following the presentation of these results, the firm presented a range of clinical results for pharmaceuticals in its research and development pipeline.

Robert Essner, chairman and chief executive officer of Wyeth, described the company’s financial performance as “outstanding”.

“The company added momentum to our new product pipeline by successfully completing a number of important clinical trials for Pristiq for vasomotor symptoms and depression, Viviant for osteoporosis and Aprela for osteoporosis and vasomotor symptoms,” he said.

Last week, Wyeth advised readers of the New England Journal Medicine to be sceptical of the conclusion reached in a report in the journal suggesting that halting hormone therapy could lower the incidence of breast cancer.