Lilly's new Evista scrips up on short week
Monday March 2, 3:53 pm Eastern Time
CHICAGO, March 2 (Reuters) - New prescriptions written for Evista, a recently launched Eli Lilly and Co drug to prevent osteoporosis, totaled 6,544 in the week ended February 20, compared to 6,451 new prescriptions in the previous week, reported healthcare information firm IMS America on Monday.
Given that the February 20 business week was shortened to four days by Washington's Birthday, ABN AMRO Chicago Corp pharmaceuticals industry analyst James Keeney said he was satisfied with Evista's weekly sales performance.
''I'm happy with this. I don't know why the rest of the world isn't,'' Keeney said.
Shares in Indianapolis-based Lilly were off 1-5/16 to 64-1/2 on the New York Stock Exchange, marking another Monday slump for the drugmaker driven by Evista prescriptions data.
Since the drug's launch, some analysts have unfavorably compared its momentum to that of Fosamax, another osteoporosis drug that came out of the blocks more strongly two years ago for Merck & Co Inc (MRK - news).
Other analysts have argued that the two drugs are not strictly comparable products and pointed to Evista's long-term sales potential as a strength.
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