Merck & Co. Says Arthritis Drug Does Not Cause Ulcers, WSJ Says
Bloomberg News
January 11, 1999, 4:47 a.m. ET
London, Jan. 11 (Bloomberg) -- Merck & Co. says its new
arthritis drug, Vioxx, does not cause gastrointestinal problems,
allowing it to be marketed as a wide-ranging pain killer, the
Wall Street Journal Interactive edition reported, citing no
sources. Vioxx is likely to be approved in late Spring by the
U.S Food and Drug administration, the newspaper said. Vioxx is a
new type of drug, called a Cox-2 inhibitor, that Wall street
analysts believe could generate world-wide combined sales of $5
billion by 2003, the newspaper reported.
Monsanto Co., a leading agricultural products company
expanding into pharmaceuticals, said Jan. 4 it will sell its
newly approved Celebrex arthritis drug at prices as low as or
lower than comparable brand-name painkillers.
(The Wall Street Journal Interactive Edition www.wsj.com)
--Will Wareing in the London newsroom (44 171) 330 7699/cp
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