Generic Heartburn at Wyeth

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Wyeth (NYSE: WYE) has a serious case of generic-induced heartburn that's not likely to go away any time soon.

Revenue from its heartburn drug Protonix dropped 59% year over year after Teva Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: TEVA) and Sun Pharmaceuticals launched their generic versions of the drug about six months ago. Blockbuster antidepressant Effexor was up just 5%, but with its patent protection set to expire this year, the company is trying to shift patients toward its new offering, Pristiq.

Despite those troubles, total revenue was up 5%, thanks in large part to two drugs that won't see generic competition in the U.S. anytime soon. Why? There's no pathway here in the U.S. for approval of follow-on biologics. Sales of rheumatoid arthritis drug Enbrel was up 6% in the U.S. and Canada where it shares marketing duties with Amgen (Nasdaq: AMGN), but was up 36% in the rest of the world, where Wyeth markets it all by itself. Prevnar, its vaccine against pneumococcal bacteria -- which can cause, among other things, meningitis -- also saw a decent 9% year-over-year gain.

Despite the increase in revenue, income slipped 6.4% as the company spent $155 million laying off all those workers that might have been used to sell Protonix. The good news is that those are one-time expenses, and a leaner Wyeth should be able to grow from here.

The next big stock-moving event for Wyeth could come next week when it and Elan (NYSE: ELN) present the phase 2 trial data for Alzheimer's drug bapineuzumab at the International Conference on Alzheimer's Disease. Investors got a sneak peek of the data last month, but the full data could shed light on whether the duo has a potential blockbuster on its hands or is just blowing smoke in investors' eyes.

Like all drugmakers, Wyeth's future lies in its pipeline and the growth of drugs it'll launch this year -- such as the opioid-induced constipation treatment Relistor that it's marketing for Progenics Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: PGNX).

However, the pipeline has to get a bit bulkier to convince me that its generic heartburn can be relieved. I won't be buying quite yet.

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