UPDATE 1-CollaGenex posts 4th-qtr profit

(Recasts, adds details)

March 12 (Reuters) - CollaGenex Pharmaceuticals Inc CGPI.O posted a surprise fourth-quarter profit, helped by higher sales of its drug Oracea and lower operating expenses.

The company, which is being acquired by a U.S. affiliate of Switzerland's Galderma Pharma, earned $438,000, or 2 cents a share, compared with a loss of $5.3 million, or 28 cents a share, a year ago.

Sales of Oracea, which treats rosacea that causes pimple-like blemishes and redness on face, rose 57 percent to $15.2 million. Total revenue for the quarter rose about 29 percent to $17 million.

Cost of product sales fell 74 percent, helped by a $1.7 million refund from Nycomed, resulting in a 9.5 percent decline in operating expenses.

Analysts on average were expecting the company to post a loss of 18 cents a share, before special items, on revenue of $15.3 million for the quarter, according to Reuters Estimates.

CollaGenex shares closed at $16.47 Tuesday on Nasdaq. (Reporting by Jennifer Robin Raj in Bangalore; Editing by Himani Sarkar)