Wyeth's 1st-qtr 2006 revenues $4.8B, up 6%

US pharmaceutical major Wyeth says that its first-quarter 2006 net revenue reached $4.8 billion, up 6% on the same period in 2005, with net income of $1.12 billion and diluted earnings per share of $0.82. The firm added that this growth was led by a 6% increase in the sale of its pharmaceutical products, which reached $4.03 billion, primarily due to the success of drugs such as the antidepressant Effexor (venlafaxine), which yielded $945.0 million, up 9% on the first quarter 2005 figure.

The company also saw improved performance from several other key products, including: the inflammatory disease treatment Enbrel (etanercept), which achieved growth of 42% reaching $335.0 million from sales outside the USA and Canada; the proton pump inhibitor Protonix (pantopazole), which posted revenue of $482.0 million, up 18% for the quarter; Prenevar, its invasive pneumococcal disease vaccine, which grew 10% to $432.0 million in the period; and the hormone therapy Premarin (conjugated estrogen tablets), sales of which rose 26% to $266.0 million.

Wyeth added that its nutritional products division reached net revenue of $289.0 million, up 13% on the year-earlier comparable period, while its consumer health care business saw a 10% decline to $554.0 million.