Wyeth exec: Nontraditional products fueling growth
Wednesday January 14, 3:34 pm ET
By Linda A. Johnson, AP Business Writer
Wyeth exec: Diversification continues as biotech, vaccines grow faster than traditional drugs
TRENTON, N.J. (AP) -- A top Wyeth executive said Wednesday its revenue growth from traditional prescription drugs is being outpaced by that of other types of products, such as vaccines and biotech drugs.
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"Over 60 percent of our 2008 revenues are coming from nonpharmaceutical sources," Geno Germano, president of Wyeth's U.S. and pharmaceutical business units, said at a J.P. Morgan healthcare conference in San Francisco. "Wyeth is now a much more diversified company than we've ever been."
He expects that percentage to hit 75 percent by 2012, as Madison, N.J.-based Wyeth, the No. 12 drugmaker based on global revenues, continues to diversify. Already, it's a major seller of biotech drugs, a top vaccine maker and a big supplier of veterinary medicines, nutritional products such as infant formula and Centrum vitamins, and consumer health products, from Advil pain reliever to Robitussin cold products.
Like some other major drugmakers, Wyeth has narrowed its research focus. Its six core areas are vaccines and drugs for cancer, inflammation, metabolic disorders and musculoskeletal conditions, plus neurological disorders such as Alzheimer's disease.
Nutritional products, pneumococcal vaccine Prevnar and the world's top-selling biotech drug, Enbrel for rheumatoid arthritis and psoriasis, are driving Wyeth's growth, Germano said.
Prevnar, the world's No. 1 vaccine, is "likely to be the very first to achieve $3 billion in annual revenues," he said.
Germano noted five newer products together should produce more than $1 billion in combined revenue this year, including injected antibiotic Tygacil, Pristiq for depression and Relistor, a shot to treat constipation caused by narcotic painkillers.
Wyeth has been trying to get Pristiq approved for treating hot flashes and menopause symptoms, an area where it long dominated, but U.S. regulators demanded further testing. Germano said the company now expects to finish a new study and apply for approval in 2010.
He said the company's key drugs in late-stage human testing include ones for various types of cancer, multiple compounds for Alzheimer's, a meningococcal vaccine and an updated version of Prevnar that would cover 13 different types of pneumococcal disease instead of the seven the current vaccine blocks.
Wyeth has a strong cash position "that enables us to do deals when we find something attractive," Germano added, noting its December purchase of London-based Thiakis Ltd., which is developing obesity treatments, and a collaboration announced Monday with Danish drugmaker Santaris Pharma A/S to develop new medicines based on that company's technology to attack many protein-related diseases.
The company also is in talks to buy Dutch vaccine maker Crucell NV for up to $1.35 billion.