News on Celebra and more:
Pfizer Could Introduce Impotence Pill Viagra to Japan Next Year
Bloomberg News
July 24, 1998, 11:16 a.m. ET
Pfizer Could Introduce Impotence Pill Viagra to Japan Next Year
New York, July 24 (Bloomberg) -- Pfizer Inc., maker of the
impotence pill Viagra, said it could begin selling the drug in
Japan in the first half of 1999 and expects reimbursement for the
product in that country.
Although some U.S. insurers won't pay for Viagra, the drug
had $411 million in sales in its first three months on the
market. Viagra intends to introduce another blockbuster, the
painkiller Celebra, in 1999 through a partnership with the drug's
maker, Monsanto Co.
Celebra could mark the third time in three years that Pfizer
brings out a blockbuster drug. Pfizer helped Warner-Lambert Co.'s
cholesterol drug Lipitor reach $865 million in sales in 1997, its
first year on the market. Second-quarter Lipitor sales more than
tripled to $533 million.
''Our track record speaks for itself,'' said Karen Katen,
the executive who leads Pfizer's U.S. drug sales.
The New York-based drugmaker's stock rose 1 3/4 to 113 3/16
late morning trading.
Pfizer and Monsanto are racing Merck & Co., the world's
biggest drugmaker, to introduce a new kind of painkiller that
doesn't irritate the stomach. Analysts estimate that a $5 billion-
a-year market exists for these drugs, which are called Cox-2
inhibitors.
Celebra likely will arrive on the market before Merck's
drug, said Henry McKinnell, who leads Pfizer's pharmaceutical
operations. He said he couldn't comment specifically on when
Monsanto will apply for U.S. approval of the drug. That comment
can only be made by Monsanto, he said.
Pfizer's agreement with Monsanto will remain in place after
Monsanto completes a planned $38 billion merger with American
Home Products Corp. The new company could be dominant in the
arthritis market, which Celebra will target first. Merck and
Monsanto both have tested their Cox-2 inhibitors among arthritis
patients, whose reliance on painkillers make them vulnerable to
stomach bleeding.
Existing painkillers work by interfering with an enzyme,
cyclooxygenase, linked to pain and swelling. The enzyme also
plays a role in protecting the stomach from the acid it contains.
Merck's drug may have an advantage in once-a-day dosing,
while Monsanto's pill would likely be taken twice a day,
McKinnell said. Still, Monsanto's drug may have advantages in
terms of side effects, he said.
Pfizer also said it won't file again until 1999 for approval
of a schizophrenia drug that the U.S. Food and Drug
Administration rejected last month. The FDA was concerned about
whether the drug could interfere with the heart's rhythm.
--Kerry Dooley in New York |
