Warner-Lambert's Lipitor Reduces Need for Angioplasty in Study
Bloomberg News
November 11, 1998, 9:32 a.m. ET
Warner-Lambert's Lipitor Reduces Need for Angioplasty in Study
Dallas, Nov. 11 (Bloomberg) -- Warner-Lambert Co. and Pfizer
Inc.'s top-selling cholesterol drug Lipitor reduced the need for
the artery-opening procedure angioplasty in a new study that
could lead to wider use of the drug.
The much-anticipated study, presented at a meeting of the
American Heart Association in Dallas, also showed Lipitor could
reduce heart complications when compared to angioplasty. Patients
who got angioplasty, however, had a greater improvement in
symptoms such as chest pain.
Before the study was released, analysts said publicity
surrounding it might push down the stocks of makers of
angioplasty equipment such as Boston Scientific Corp. Still, they
said, the study isn't likely to significantly curb use of
angioplasty. It's more likely to spur greater use of Lipitor and
drugs like it, whether alone or in combination with angioplasty,
they said.
''It's going to be a positive for Lipitor. Period,'' said
Daniel Lemaitre, a device analyst at SG Cowen Securities.
The study is part of Morris Plains, New Jersey-based Warner-
Lambert's strategy to boost sales of Lipitor, already a top
seller which brought in $569 million in the third quarter.
Introduced in 1997, Lipitor made Warner-Lambert one of the
world's most profitable drugmakers.
''They view it as their main engine of growth for the next
couple of years,'' said Jack Lafferty, an analyst with U.S.
Trust, which holds about 4.7 million Warner-Lambert shares,
according to regulatory filings.
Warner Lambert shares rose 9/16 75 13/16 in early trading.
Angioplasty Candidates
The so-called AVERT study included 341 heart patients with
at least one diseased artery who doctors would consider
candidates for angioplasty. Patients were randomly assigned to
either receive Lipitor or undergo angioplasty.
In about one-third of the angioplasty patients, doctors also
implanted stents, tiny devices used to prop open arteries. Boston
Scientific, Guidant Corp. and Arterial Vascular Engineering Inc.
are the top makers of stents, which are expected to generate
sales topping $1 billion in the U.S. this year.
After 18 months, 87 percent of the patients assigned to
Lipitor were doing fine on the medicine and didn't require
angioplasty. Patients on Lipitor also had a 36 percent reduction
in a measure of heart complications, mainly by requiring fewer
hospitalizations and having less need for further procedures
including bypass surgery.
The reduction is ''clinically very, very important,'' said
Bertram Pitt, a researcher from the University of Michigan who
previewed the results for reporters. ''If you never have to have
an angioplasty and do well, I think you're a lot better off than
having one.''
Pitt noted, though, that while any patient with high
cholesterol should be a candidate for drug therapy, many will
still require angioplasty.
Least Sick Patients
Indeed, before the meeting, drug and device analysts pointed
out that the patients in the study were some of the least sick
seen by doctors. If the patients were in imminent danger of a
heart attack or other problem, the doctors would have been
obliged to send the patients into angioplasty, they said.
''You need to step back a little bit and recognize the
study's design,'' Lemaitre said. ''The patients that they are
treating here are not the garden-variety angioplasty patients.''
The procedure and the drug's use could be complementary, he
said. While the use of Lipitor and drugs like it should increase,
the study shouldn't have a major effect on the number of artery-
opening procedures performed, Lemaitre said.
Lipitor, which Warner-Lambert co-markets with New York-based
Pfizer, 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.
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.
--Kristin Jensen in Dallas with reporting from Kristin Reed in
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