[WLA, LLY] Forest Labs Finds Drug [Celexa] Not Effective for Alzheimer's (Update2)
Bloomberg News
August 19, 1998, 4:22 p.m. ET
Forest Labs Finds Drug Not Effective for Alzheimer's (Update2)
(Adds closing stock price.)
New York, Aug. 19 (Bloomberg) -- Forest Laboratories Inc.
said a study indicates that a drug it licensed from H. Lundbeck
A/S isn't effective in treating Alzheimer's disease.
The drug may be considered for other conditions, such as
incontinence, Forest said.
''This molecule was going to try a new approach to
Alzheimer's disease,'' said Viren Mehta, an analyst with Mehta
partners, who has a ''neutral'' rating on the stock. ''There
might be some disappointment.''
Forest shares fell 1/16 to 37 15/16. About 4 million people
in the U.S. have Alzheimer's disease, which causes severe
confusion and memory loss.
Forest's stock has risen 81 percent in the past year on
expectations for its plan to market Lundbeck's antidepressant
Celexa in the U.S. Lundbeck, a closely held Danish drugmaker,
already sells Celexa in Europe.
Forest will work with much larger drugmaker Warner-Lambert
Co. to promote Celexa, which may work better for some people with
depression than blockbuster drugs such as Eli Lilly & Co.'s
Prozac.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the drug last
month. Celexa has fewer side effects and lower risk of bad
interaction with other medicines, said Richard Silver, an analyst
with Lehman Brothers, who has an ''outperform'' rating on Forest.
Doctors may feel more comfortable prescribing Celexa for the
elderly, who often are taking several kinds of medication, he
said. U.S. sales of Celexa could grow to $500 million within four
years of its introduction without taking away much market share
from rival drugs such as Prozac, he said.
--Kerry Dooley in the Princeton newsroom (609) 279-4016
|
