Pfizer Falls as Reported Viagra Sales in U.S. Decline (Update1)
Bloomberg News
October 6, 1998, 2:47 p.m. ET
Pfizer Falls as Reported Viagra Sales in U.S. Decline (Update1)
(Adds Viagra sales estimate, Schering-Plough lawsuit.)
New York, Oct. 6 (Bloomberg) -- Shares of Pfizer Inc., the
fourth largest U.S. drugmaker by sales, fell as much as 7 percent
after IMS Health Inc. reported a decline in the number of
prescriptions filled for its impotence treatment Viagra.
Pfizer shares fell 5 to 89 3/4 in midafternoon trading,
after touching 88 1/8. They reached a record 121 3/4 on April 21
as Viagra had an unprecedented introduction. Weekly prescriptions
rose above 300,000 one week in May, according to IMS Health Inc.,
an industry consulting group that tracks pharmacy sales.
Viagra prescriptions have since slipped. In the week ended
Sept. 25, 156,312 Viagra prescriptions were filled in the U.S.,
including 71,509 new ones, IMS said. A week earlier, there were
164,546 prescriptions with 75,423 refills, IMS said.
''Since Viagra was introduced, the drug's controlled the
stock,'' said Le Anne Zhao, an analyst with Southeast Research
Partners, who has a ''buy'' on Pfizer. ''But the company's more
than one product.''
New York-based Pfizer also sells the heart drug Norvasc,
which had more than $2 billion in 1997 sales, and the
antidepressant Zoloft, which had more than $1.5 billion.
Viagra had $411 million in second-quarter sales in its first
three months on the U.S. market. Some of those sales were to
wholesalers, who stocked up on the popular drug early. Viagra
could have sales of $100 million to $150 million in the third
quarter, said James Keeney, an analyst with ABN Amro, who has a
''buy'' rating on Pfizer.
Separately, rival Schering-Plough Corp. filed a lawsuit
against Pfizer in U.S. District Court in New York, claiming that
Pfizer broke a 1996 settlement agreement regarding promotion for
its allergy drug Zyrtec, said Schering-Plough spokesman William
O'Donnell. Schering-Plough sells the world's best-selling allergy
drug, Claritin.
''I don't think (the suit) is too meaningful,'' Keeney said.
--Kerry Dooley in the Princeton newsroom (609) 279-4016/gfh |
