Monsanto's Arthritis Painkiller Selling Briskly
Edward R. Silverman
01/27/99
KRTBN Knight-Ridder Tribune Business News: The Star-Ledger, Newark, N.J
Another new drug is flying off pharmacy shelves at a trend-setting pace.
The widely anticipated new painkiller called Celebrex, which became available on Jan. 19 for arthritis sufferers, is on track to become one of the pharmaceutical industry's most successful product introductions.
In its first four days on the market, about 8,500 prescriptions were written by doctors, a rate that rivals the initial volume of prescriptions written two years ago when the Lipitor cholesterol drug was launched, according to NDC Health Information Services.
However, the volume doesn't match the record-breaking numbers posted last spring by Viagra , for which more than 15,000 prescriptions were being written each day by overwhelmed physicians, the market-research firm noted.
Nonetheless, "the numbers are just astronomical," said Hemant Shah, an independent analyst who tracks the drug industry. "Volume is much stronger than anticipated, and I think it reflects pent-up demand. The market is unsatisfied."
Celebrex, which is marketed by the Monsanto Co. with help from Pfizer, is the first in a new class of painkillers known as Cox-2. Unlike existing painkillers, such as non-steroidal anti-inflammatories, Cox-2 painkillers don't cause gastrointestinal side effects.
For this reason, anticipation was running high that Celebrex would quickly become a blockbuster drug. Regulators, however, dealt Monsanto a blow last month by saying the drug can be marketed for arthritis relief, but not other types of pain.
This may give Merck & Co., which is seeking regulatory approval for its own Cox-2 drug, an advantage. Merck is counting on its Vioxx painkiller to become a blockbuster because patents on some big-selling drugs expire in a couple of years.
Merck applied to the Food and Drug Administration for marketing approval last November and expects a decision by May, because the agency recently placed it on its fasttrack review system.
About 19 million Americans suffer from rheumatoid arthritis or osteoarthritis, both of which cause painful inflammation. Monsanto is currently conducting studies in order to market Celebrex for other ailments, such as pain from dental procedures.
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