Warner-Lambert Could Market Pfizer's Migraine Drug (Update1)
Bloomberg News
June 16, 1999, 9:54 a.m. ET
Warner-Lambert Could Market Pfizer's Migraine Drug (Update1)
(Adds analyst comment in 3rd and 4th paragraphs. Updates
share prices.)
Morris Plains, New Jersey, June 16 (Bloomberg) -- Warner-
Lambert Co., maker of the No. 1 cholesterol pill in the U.S.,
Lipitor, said it will help market Pfizer Inc.'s migraine drug,
Relpax, which could win U.S. and European approvals this year.
Warner-Lambert and Pfizer also will try to develop one pill
that combines Lipitor with Pfizer's Norvasc, the world's best-
selling high-blood-pressure drug. Lipitor and Norvasc already
each top $2 billion in annual sales. The combination pill hasn't
been tested yet, even in animals, Pfizer said.
Warner-Lambert and Pfizer extended their co-promotion
agreement for Lipitor for a total of 10 years. As part of the
Lipitor pact, Warner-Lambert won the right to market a Pfizer
drug. The Norvasc agreement helps make the choice of Relpax more
attractive, an analyst said. About 27 million people have both
high blood pressure and high cholesterol.
''Relpax is one of the weaker Pfizer pipeline drugs that
Warner could have chosen,'' said Alex Zisson, an analyst with
Hambrecht & Quist, who has a ''market perform'' rating on both
companies.
Morris Plains, New Jersey-based Warner-Lambert rose 9/16 to
62 1/4 in early trading. New York-based Pfizer rose 2 3/16 to 99
3/4.
Relpax will compete with migraine medicines that Glaxo
Wellcome Plc, Merck & Co. and AstraZeneca Plc have introduced in
recent years. None of these has threatened Glaxo's older migraine
medicine, Imitrex as much as expected or attracted many new
patients to seek treatment, Zisson said.
''The second-generation migraine agents didn't expand the
market as much as people had hoped,'' Zisson said.
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