Oct. 28 (Bloomberg) -- Wyeth said it will cut its research projects by more than half, concentrating on about six therapeutic areas and 27 diseases in an effort to increase the company's odds of finding profitable new drugs.

The Madison, New Jersey-based drugmaker intends to focus on oncology, inflammation, neuroscience, vaccines, metabolic diseases and muscular-skeletal disorders, said Evan Loh, Wyeth's vice president of medical therapeutics, in a telephone interview today. Wyeth now conducts research in 14 areas aimed at as many as 60 diseases.

Wyeth joins Pfizer Inc., Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. and other large pharmaceutical companies that have scaled back drug development to emphasize work on treatments that offer a better chance of approval by regulators, reimbursement from private and government payers, and heftier profits.

``It didn't really make sense for us to try to be successful in all of those different diseases and therapeutic areas,'' Loh said. ``We needed to have more focus.''

Wyeth will concentrate on innovative therapies ``where we can clearly define what the unmet need is'' and move products to the market faster, Loh said.

Spending on research and development will remain largely unchanged, at about $3.2 billion a year, the company said. Wyeth's scientific staff won't be reduced, although some scientists will lose their jobs because their skills aren't appropriate for the new areas, Loh said.

Women's Health

Wyeth no longer will develop new drugs in some areas of women's health, such as contraceptives and hormone-replacement therapy, the company said. Drugs further along in development, such as Viviant, an experimental drug for preventing bone loss in postmenopausal women, will continue, Loh said.

``Our message is that women's health needs are much broader than hormone therapy and contraceptive therapy,'' Loh said, citing opportunities in areas such as ovarian and breast cancer, as well as lupus, an autoimmune disease that is much more common in women than men.

Wyeth's move is part of Project Impact, a cost-cutting program announced in January that led to the reduction of 1,200 U.S. sales jobs earlier this year.

Wyeth shares rose $2.29, or 7.4 percent, to $33.08 at 4:15 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The company has dropped 25 percent this year.

To contact the reporter on this story: David Olmos in San Francisco at

Last Updated: October 28, 2008 18:02 EDT