Wyeth's income up 17%, but shares fall 2.5%

New Jersey, USA-based drugmaker Wyeth says that its profits for the fourth quarter of 2006 were $855.0 million, or $0.63 per share, up 16.8% from the $732.0 million it earned in the year-earlier period. The company said that higher sales of both its antidepressant Effexor (venlafaxine), which increased 11% to $936.1 million, and Pravnar, its vaccine against invasive pneumococcal infection, which grew 25% to $501.7 million, had driven its earnings for the period.

Revenues up 10% to $5.2B

Wyeth went on to say that its sales for the final three months of the year increased 10% to $5.2 billion, as a result of the strong performance of the majority of its products. The company highlighted Enbrel (etanercept), its targeted therapy for a range of autoimmune conditions, as a key performer. In the USA, where the company markets the drug in collaboration with biotechnology major Amgen, sales were up 18% to $792.0 million.