Warner-Lambert Drug [Lipitor] Vs. Angioplasty Study to Be Released at AHA
Bloomberg News
November 6, 1998, 1:56 p.m. ET
Warner-Lambert Drug Vs. Angioplasty Study to Be Released at AHA
Dallas, Nov. 6 (Bloomberg) -- Warner-Lambert Co. will be in
the spotlight next week at the largest U.S. heart conference as
researchers present a study comparing its cholesterol-reducing
drug Lipitor with the artery-opening procedure angioplasty.
The study is among the most anticipated at the American
Heart Association meeting opening Sunday in Dallas, said Jack
Lafferty, an analyst with U.S. Trust. It will be released in a
special session on Wednesday.
The so-called AVERT study is part of Morris Plains, New
Jersey-based Warner-Lambert's strategy to boost sales of Lipitor,
already a blockbuster.
''They view it as their main engine of growth for the next
couple of years,'' said Lafferty of U.S. Trust, which holds about
4.7 million Warner-Lambert shares, according to regulatory
filings.
Lipitor, which Warner-Lambert co-markets with Pfizer Inc.,
is part of a class of cholesterol-lowering drugs known as
statins. Merck & Co., Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. and Novartis AG
sell other members of the hot drug class.
The AVERT study looks at patients who have at least one
diseased artery and could be candidates for angioplasty, in which
a doctor snakes a balloon-tipped catheter through the blood
vessel and ruptures plaque. Patients in the study initially
either received Lipitor or underwent angioplasty.
Results showing the drug could help patients avert or delay
the need for artery-clearing procedures could be a boon for
Warner-Lambert and Pfizer, and may put pressure on top makers of
angioplasty equipment, such as Boston Scientific Corp. Still,
device analysts note that cardiologists have embraced
angioplasty. In addition, stents, tiny devices used to keep
arteries open after the procedure, have made the procedure's
effects more durable.
Cholesterol drugs ''may delay more than eliminate the
problem'' for patients with diseased arteries, said Sandra
Hollenhorst, an analyst at Vector Securities.
Introduced in 1997, Lipitor made Warner-Lambert one of the
world's most profitable drugmakers. Third-quarter profit rose 49
percent to $296 million from the year-earlier period as sales of
Lipitor more than doubled to $569 million for the three-month
period alone.
Lipitor's success has come at least partly at the expense of
Merck. Third-quarter sales of Merck's top product, the
cholesterol drug Zocor, rose 10 percent to $990 million.
To some extent, Warner-Lambert's Lipitor has benefited from
studies sponsored by Merck and Bristol-Myers that show their own
cholesterol-lowering drugs, which have been on the market longer,
can save lives and prevent heart attacks.
Larger Studies
Now, Warner-Lambert is funding its own larger studies to
help it compete with Merck and others for the loyalty of the
doctors who come to major meetings such as AHA.
''It'll be the Goliaths knocking heads,'' said David Saks,
an analyst at Gruntal & Co.
Other highlights at the conference will include a study from
Monsanto Co.'s Searle drug unit on a drug used to treat heart
failure, Pfizer studies on its dofetilide drug to treat irregular
heart rhythms and studies of potential heart valve damage caused
by the controversial fen-phen diet drug combination with
implications for American Home Products Corp.
On the biotechnology side, analysts and investors will be
looking for information on innovative treatments under
development by companies including Genentech Inc. and
Pharmacyclics Inc. Centocor Inc. will also be in the spotlight
with new studies of its ReoPro clot-preventing drug both alone
and in combination with other drugs.
Those studies will be ''important to watch'' because each
adds to the justification for using ReoPro, said Jay Silverman,
an analyst with BancBoston Robertson Stephens. ''This drug has
excellent efficacy in a whole slew of coronary syndromes.''
Analysts and investors will also be trying to gauge
cardiologists' acceptance of new devices used to treat congestive
heart failure and others to treat irregular heart rhythms
developed by companies including St. Jude Medical Inc., Medtronic
Inc. and Guidant Corp.
In addition, analysts will be once again trying to handicap
which players in the market for stents are favored by
cardiologists. Boston Scientific, Guidant and Arterial Vascular
Engineering are the top competitors in the U.S. market expected
to top $1 billion this year.
Guidant will enter the conference fresh off the heels of the
U.S. regulatory approval for its new Duet stent. The timing is
''ideal,'' said Emil Westergaard, an analyst at Warburg Dillon
Read. ''They'll be able to go down to the AHA and market it.''
--Kristin Jensen in Washington, Kerry Dooley in Princeton and |
