Headline: Pfizer stock falls as Viagra growth outlook slips
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NEW YORK, Oct 5 (Reuters) - Shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)
fell Monday after release of industry data showing new U.S.
weekly prescriptions of the company's popular anti-impotence
pill, Viagra, fell in the week ending Sept. 25.
Pfizer closed down 4-1/2 to 94-5/8, the loss-leader among
the largest U.S. drugmakers. Also losing ground was
Warner-Lambert Co. (NYSE:WLA), off 1-1/2 to 71-3/8, and
Schering-Plough Corp. (NYSE:SGP), which eased 1/4 to 99-1/4.
IMS Health, a market research firm, said U.S. new
prescriptions of Viagra slipped 6 percent to 68,260 during the
week ending Sept. 25, in contrast with the 10 percent gain in
new prescriptions for the pill in the week ending Sept. 18.
IMS said the number of refills for Viagra declined 5
percent in its most recent weekly survey, resulting in a
refill/new prescriptions ratio of 1.19 -- flat from the prior
week of Sept. 18.
"Viagra's U.S. prescription trend is not as robust as you'd
like it to be, maybe because of lingering concerns about safety
of the drug," said Premal Pajwani, a drug analyst for the
Dresdner, Kleinwort, Benson Research unit of Dresdner Bank
Group.
"Sales expectations for Viagra have been very high and are
now coming down a bit," Pajwani said, adding he believed Viagra
was a safe and needed product that will still match his earlier
forecast of achieving worldwide sales of $1.5 billion in 1999.
Even so, in view of a slower-than-expected increase in new
U.S. prescriptions, Pajwani said he had trimmed his 1998 U.S.
sales projection for Viagra to $750 million from $825 million
and cut his 1999 U.S. forecast to $950 million from $1.25
billion.
Meanwhile, Pajwani said he had raised his Viagra sales
forecast outside the United States for 1998 and 1999 by amounts
offsetting his trimmed forecast in U.S. sales, "so there is no
change to our global estimates of $950 million and $1.5
billion, respectively."
Several other large pharmaceutical companies eked out gains
Monday following a topsy-turvy trading day in the broad U.S.
market during which their shares zoomed back from earlier
intraday declines.
Merck & Co. (NYSE:MRK) ended up 1-7/16 to 129-1/4. It had
traded as low as 125-5/16 during the session.
Eli Lilly and Co. (NYSE:LLY) rose 1-13/16 to 78-11/16,
rallying from an intraday low of 74-13/16.
Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) gained 2-5/16 to 79-7/16. The
diversified health-care company earlier Monday said it had
agreed to buy all the outstanding shares of FemRx Inc. (NASDAQ:FMRX)
for about $22 million. FemRx develops products for
gynecological disorders.
Copyright 1998, Reuters News Service |
