The New York Times-20080126-Wyeth Says It May Cut 10- of Jobs

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Wyeth Says It May Cut 10% of Jobs

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Wyeth said Friday that it might cut as many as 5,000 jobs, or 10 percent of its worldwide work force, after federal regulators delayed four medicines in the last year.

The approval setbacks were worsened last month by the unanticipated release of generic versions of Wyeth's Protonix acid-relief medicine.

Wyeth also may face generic competition this year to its most popular drug, the antidepressant Effexor, driving earnings down further.

Protonix and Effexor generated a combined $5.5 billion in sales in 2006. Analysts have cut peak annual revenue estimates for the delayed drugs to less than half the $6 billion the company forecast in 2006.

Wyeth, which is based in Madison, N.J., joins other drug makers in cutting spending and jobs. Pharmaceutical companies have cut about 86,000 jobs in the four years through 2006.

Doug Petkus, a company spokesman, said Wyeth planned to share the details of the job cuts with employees toward the end of March. It is important to realize, however, that nothing is etched in stone and it's premature to discuss how many or which positions may be affected or how the reductions will be achieved, he said.

Wyeth fell $1.98 a share, or 4.6 percent, to $40.86 on the New York Stock Exchange.

Wyeth's chief executive, Bernard J. Poussot, said in a Dec. 24 conference call with investors that the company would revise its 2008 profit forecast, saying the impact of lost Protonix sales has the potential to be significant.

Wyeth had about 50,000 employees at the end of 2006, according to regulatory filings. Since Jan. 1, 2007, the Food and Drug Administration has postponed clearance of Wyeth's bifeprunox for schizophrenia, Pristiq for depression and menopausal hot flashes, Viviant for bone loss and methylnaltrexone for constipation.

The kidney cancer drug Torisel and the contraceptive Lybrel were delayed before winning approval.

Protonix was due to go off patent in 2010. Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, the world's biggest maker of generic drugs, sold as much as a six-month supply of a generic version in December, during a legal dispute with Wyeth. If Teva, which is based in Israel, ultimately loses that lawsuit, Wyeth may be paid damages for lost sales.