In this Bloomberg article it says 15 minutes, and PFE is also working with Fuisz to develop orally administered, rapidly dissolving tablets (not limited to Viagra, I suppose):
May 4, 1998, 11:02 a.m. PT
Scherer Rises on Prospect of Wafer Version of Pfizer's Viagra
New York, May 4 (Bloomberg) -- R.P. Scherer Corp. rose as
much as 9.8 percent, hitting a record high, on prospects that it
will develop a faster-acting wafer form of Pfizer Inc.'s Viagra
impotence drug.
Scherer rose 5 3/16 to 78 3/4 in midafternoon trading of
380,400, more than triple the three-month daily average. It
earlier touched 80 3/4.
Viagra, which met with unprecedented demand when it was
introduced last month, had 207,868 new prescriptions filled in
the week ended April 24, up from 113,134 a week earlier,
according to IMS Health, a consulting group. A wafer form would
allow the drug to reach the bloodstream in 15 minutes rather than
60 minutes as with the current pill form.
''Unless you've been living under a rock, you know that
Viagra is a huge product,'' said Steven Gerber, an analyst with
CIBC Oppenheimer, who has a ''buy'' rating on Scherer. ''This
could be a big product for (Scherer).''
Pfizer entered an agreement with Scherer in 1997, said
Andrew McCormick, a Pfizer spokesman. Pfizer may know in about
two years whether it wants to proceed with trying a wafer form of
the drug, he said. Scherer officials declined to comment.
The Wall Street Journal reported the collaboration today.
Scherer's Zydis technology enables drugs to be made in a thin
wafer that dissolves rapidly on the tongue and doesn't require
water to aid swallowing.
Scherer, based in Troy, Michigan, develops pills and tablets
to deliver drugs such as Schering-Plough Corp.'s allergy medicine
Claritin.
Pfizer, based in New York, rose 1 7/8 to 114 1/4.
--Kerry Dooley in the Princeton newsroom (609) 279-4016/rjb/dd |
