Wyeth Applauds Governments' Decision To Fund Pneumococcal Vaccine For Developing Countries

Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, a division of Wyeth (NYSE: WYE), welcomes the decision by donor countries to focus on the importance of pneumococcal disease and to launch a pilot Advanced Market Commitment, which will help to bring the pneumococcal conjugate vaccine to developing countries. "This financial pledge brings much needed attention to the global burden of pneumococcal disease," says Bernard Poussot, President, Chief Operating Officer and Vice Chairman, Wyeth. "We join the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations and the global community in commending the donor countries, and look forward to cooperating with international partners with the goal of helping to protect children in developing countries against the potentially devastating consequences of pneumococcal disease." Wyeth is committed to helping to protect infants and young children against pneumococcal disease and currently markets the only pneumococcal conjugate vaccine, PREVENAR(TM), Pneumococcal Saccharide Conjugated Vaccine, Adsorbed, which has been incorporated into many childhood immunization programs around the world and has had a significant public health impact. Recently, the World Health Organization (WHO) Strategic Advisory Group of Experts (SAGE), advocated for priority inclusion of PREVENAR in national immunization programs around the world. SAGE recommended that the vaccine be incorporated into immunization programs now, in view of the demonstrated vaccine efficacy and high disease burden, to help substantially reduce mortality and morbidity. In addition, Wyeth is now developing a 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine that targets additional serotypes. This investigational vaccine is currently undergoing clinical development and would potentially offer broader coverage against pneumococcal disease. ´About Pneumococcal Disease Pneumococcal disease is caused by the bacterium S. pneumoniae, and describes a group of illnesses, including bacteremia/sepsis, meningitis, pneumonia and otitis media. Pneumococcal disease affects both children and adults and is a major cause of death and illness worldwide. The WHO estimates that pneumococcal disease results in up to one million deaths each year in children less than 5 years of age worldwide. Further, according to WHO, pneumococcal disease is the number one vaccine-preventable cause of death in children less than 5 years of age worldwide. Wyeth Pharmaceuticals Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, a division of Wyeth, has leading products in the areas of women's health care, infectious disease, gastrointestinal health, central nervous system, inflammation, transplantation, hemophilia, oncology, vaccines and nutritional products. Wyeth is one of the world's largest research-driven pharmaceutical and health care products companies. It is a leader in the discovery, development, manufacturing and marketing of pharmaceuticals, vaccines, biotechnology products and non-prescription medicines that improve the quality of life for people worldwide. The Company's major divisions include Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, Wyeth Consumer Healthcare and Fort Dodge Animal Health. The statements in this press release that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements based on current expectations of future events and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such statements. These risks and uncertainties include risks associated with the inherent uncertainty of the timing and success of product research, development and commercialization (including with respect to our pipeline products), drug pricing and payment for our products by government and third party-payors, manufacturing, data generated on the safety and efficacy of our products, economic conditions including interest and currency exchange rate fluctuations, changes in generally accepted accounting principles, the impact of competitive or generic products, trade buying patterns, global business operations, product liability and other types of litigation, the impact of legislation and regulatory compliance, intellectual property rights, strategic relationships with third parties, environmental liabilities, and other risks and uncertainties, including those detailed from time to time in our periodic reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including our current reports on Form 8-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and annual report on Form 10-K, particularly the discussion under the caption "Item 1A, Risk Factors." We assume no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise. Wyeth Pharmaceuticals

(Author: http://www.wyeth.com/)

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