Wednesday morning, drug company Wyeth
On a drug-by-drug basis, there weren't any real surprises. The company's depression-fighting drug Effexor grew 7% in the quarter and made up nearly 20% of the company's total revenue. Sales of the vaccine Prevnar and arthritis treatment Enbrel were both quite strong in the quarter, growing 48% and 75%, respectively. Both stomach-acid regulator Protonix and hormone drug Premarin recovered with double-digit sales growth in the quarter.
Another positive note comes from the recent approval of Tygacil. The Food and Drug Administration approved this drug six months after its submission, and the commercial launch is under way. Not only is Tygacil a first-in-class treatment for some really nasty infections, but it also has a convenient dosing regimen and can be used as a broad-spectrum treatment even when the specific bacterial culprits haven't been identified.
While Wyeth executives didn't raise company guidance with this report, they did suggest that business was still quite strong. Whether Wyeth's optimism amounts to "shadow guidance" upwards or not, it would seem that the company has turned the corner with respect to its business performance.
Having climbed by more than 30% in the past year and currently sitting at a new high, these shares don't look especially cheap relative to other large pharmaceutical companies, such as Motley Fool Inside Value recommendation Pfizer
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Fool contributor Stephen Simpson has no financial interest in any stocks mentioned (that means he's neither long nor short the shares).