Wednesday June 16, 8:02 am Eastern Time
Company Press Release
SOURCE: Pfizer Inc
Pfizer and Warner-Lambert Agree to
Extend and Expand Highly Successful
Marketing Alliance
Companies to Extend Lipitor Agreement; Co-Promote Migraine Drug; and
Explore Development of Lipitor/Norvasc Combination Product
NEW YORK, June 16 /PRNewswire/ -- Pfizer Inc today announced that it has signed a letter of
intent with Warner-Lambert Company (NYSE: WLA - news) to extend and expand its highly
successful co-promotion of the cholesterol-lowering agent Lipitor (atorvastatin calcium). The
companies, which began co-promoting Lipitor in 1997, will continue their collaboration for a total of
ten years.
Further, with a goal of expanding their product collaborations, the companies plan to explore
potential Lipitor line extensions and product combinations and other areas of mutual interest. This
would include exploring the development of a novel combination product that contains the
cholesterol-lowering and anti-hypertensive medications in Lipitor and Norvasc (amlodipine besylate)
-- two of the world's most widely prescribed cardiovascular medicines.
Anthony H. Wild, Ph.D., president, pharmaceutical sector of Warner-Lambert said, ''We are very
pleased to continue a relationship that has proven so successful. Our collaboration has contributed
toward Lipitor becoming the leading product of its kind in many markets around the globe.
Moreover, Lipitor's success is also testament to its inherent therapeutic benefits and demonstrates
that physicians recognize the product's value.'' Lipitor, an HMG-coA reductase inhibitor, or ''statin,''
is the most prescribed cholesterol-lowering agent in the U.S., currently holding a 46 percent share of
new prescriptions in the U.S. market for statins.
As part of their expanded collaboration, Warner-Lambert and Pfizer also agreed to co-promote
Pfizer's migraine drug Relpax (eletriptan). Warner-Lambert will have global co-promotion rights to
Relpax for ten years. ''We look forward to additional successes in our collaboration with Pfizer,''
Wild added. ''The excellent working relationship we enjoy was a major factor in our decision to
expand our collaboration. Relpax represents a very promising opportunity for both companies.
Together, we will bring the same enthusiasm to its co-promotion and continuing development that
has marked our Lipitor collaboration.'' Warner-Lambert and Pfizer expect to sign final agreements
for both Lipitor and Relpax later this year.
Henry McKinnell, president and chief operating officer, Pfizer Inc said, ''Today's announcements
reaffirm our very strong relationship, with Warner-Lambert in co-promoting innovative new therapies
in broad areas of unmet medical need. Building on the remarkable success of Lipitor, the prospects
for the Relpax co-promotion and our plans to explore further product collaboration are extremely
promising.''
Relpax, a 5-HT 1d agonist, represents a potentially significant therapy for the treatment of acute
migraine headaches. Regulatory applications seeking marketing clearance for Relpax were filed in
Europe in September 1998 and in the U.S. in October 1998. Terms of the agreement call for
Warner-Lambert and Pfizer to share equally in profits, promotional expenses and the cost of
long-term research and development studies for Relpax. In addition to Relpax, further modifications
will be made to the existing marketing arrangements to provide additional benefits to
Warner-Lambert under certain circumstances. These benefits will balance Warner-Lambert's return
from Relpax with further potential collaborations for Pfizer product(s) or modifications to the
companies' other arrangements.
The companies also announced plans to develop a single product that treats both lipid disorders and
hypertension. The new product will combine the active ingredients of Lipitor, discovered and
developed by Parke-Davis, the pharmaceutical division of Warner-Lambert; and Norvasc,
discovered and developed by Pfizer. Norvasc is a once-a-day calcium channel blocker for the
treatment of angina and hypertension. In 1998, Norvasc was the most widely prescribed
anti-hypertensive medication in the world.
Of the more than 100 million patients in the U.S. with either hypertension or hyperlipidemia, 27
million patients suffer from both conditions. With only about 15 percent of these patients being
treated for both conditions, a vast number of patients may benefit from a single combination therapy
leading to enhanced patient compliance, a major problem in the treatment of these two asymptomatic
conditions.
Peter B. Corr, Ph.D., president of Parke-Davis pharmaceutical research and development said,
''We are very excited about the prospect of combining the active ingredients of Lipitor and Norvasc
and the tremendous opportunity it presents in terms of meeting a substantial and currently unfulfilled
medical need. By combining these two important medicines, we have the potential to improve and
enhance the lives of millions of patients who currently suffer the devastating effects of hypertension
and hyperlipidemia.''
''Combining Lipitor and Norvasc should give patients and physicians a convenient, safe and effective
treatment for two of the most prevalent cardiovascular diseases that put patients at the highest risk of
heart attack, stroke and death,'' said Joseph Feczko, M.D., senior vice president, medical and
regulatory operations, Pfizer Pharmaceutical Group. ''We are very pleased to be scientific, medical
and marketing partners with Warner-Lambert on this innovative new therapy,'' he said.
Regards
Neil |
