Abraxis BioScience Inc. said early Tuesday that its fourth-quarter loss widened as costs offset surging drug sales.

Abraxis posted a loss of $5.2 million (-13 cents per share), compared with a loss of $5 million (-12 cents) from the same period a year earlier.

Excluding one-time charges, the Los Angeles-based biotech company said it earned $11.4 million (29 cents) compared with $7.5 million (19 cents) in the last quarter of 2006. The charges stemmed from debt and other costs related to the April 2006 purchase of a subsidiary of British drug maker AstraZeneca, as well as a non-cash stock compensation expense and costs associated with the construction and ramp-up of an Arizona-based manufacturing facility.

Sales surged, however, adding 58 percent for the quarter to $90.8 million thanks in large part to hefty sales of its drug Abraxane, which is used to treat breast cancer.

For the year, the company posted a loss of $41.6 million (-$1.04 per share), compared with a loss of $124 million ($3.11) from 2006. Sales for the full year were up 83 percent to $334 million.

Shares in Abraxis were up 2.4 percent to $60.48 in early trading Tuesday on the Nasdaq.