[Scripts!]Pfizer's Viagra Sales Rebound After Slipping on Death Reports
Bloomberg News
June 15, 1998, 5:21 p.m. ET
Pfizer's Viagra Sales Rebound After Slipping on Death Reports
New York, June 15 (Bloomberg) -- Pfizer Inc.'s Viagra sales
rose 21 percent in the week ended June 5, rebounding after a May
decline in sales of the first pill to treat impotence, said IMS
Health, which surveys pharmacists about drug sales.
Viagra sales increased to 255,908 prescriptions in the week
ended June 5 from 210,857 in the week ended May 29. Viagra sales
had reached a high of 303,424 prescriptions filled in the week
ended May 8 before U.S. regulators reported the deaths of several
Viagra users. The drug hasn't been found to be the direct cause
of the deaths.
Viagra became one of the best-selling U.S. drugs within
weeks of its April introduction. More than 1.1 prescriptions were
filled in May alone. The blue diamond-shaped pill is a more
convenient treatment that rival products, such as injections.
Viagra sales were expected to rebound after slowing in late May
when the Memorial Day holiday shut many doctors' offices.
''It shows there is staying power to this product,'' said
James Keeney, an analyst with ABN Amro, who has a ''buy'' rating
on Pfizer.
Pfizer, a New York-based drugmaker with laboratories in
Connecticut, fell 1 5/16 to 108. Pfizer hit a record high of 121
3/4 on April 21 as Viagra's early sales passed most analysts'
estimates. The drug was introduced in the U.S. in early April.
Viagra sales are expected to top $1 billion in its first 12
months on the market. Pfizer could start sales in the European
Union later this year.
Analysts have said it will be difficult to estimate Viagra's
annual sales until they have seen at least three month's worth of
sales. They are trying to gauge how many men will become regular
users of the drug and how many will try it only once or twice.
In the week ended June 5, Viagra refills rose 28 percent to
63,323 prescriptions from 49,452.
IMS Health is a unit of Westport, Connecticut-based
Cognizant Corp.
--Kerry Dooley in the Princeton newsroom (609) 279-4016/esk |
