Shares in MannKind Corp. fell more than 4 percent early Wednesday after the company said that its fourth-quarter loss increased as expenses rose. The loss, however, wasn’t as high as estimated.

MannKind reported a fourth quarter loss of $75 million (-75 cents per share), compared with a loss of $71.3 million (-$1.30) from the same period a year earlier. The earnings per share were also affected by the company issuing a higher number of shares during the quarter. Analysts polled by Thomson Financial saw a loss of 78 cents per share for the company.

Research and development expenses for the Valencia-based biotech firm increased by 13 percent to $66.8 million while general and administrative expenses increased by $300,000 to $12.3 million.

MannKind did not have any sales during the quarter to report.

For the year, MannKind lost $293 million (-$3.66 per share), compared to a loss of $230 million (-$4.52) from 2006.

Shares in MannKind closed up 6.1 percent to $6.97 in trading Tuesday but was down 4.7 percent to $6.64 in early tradfing Wednesday on the Nasdaq.