Now, Merck is looking to one drug alone, its experimental
painkiller Vioxx, analysts said. Vioxx, which is waiting for U.S.
approval, is part of a new class of drug that appear to treat
pain and inflammation without irritating the stomach as does
aspirin and other painkillers.
Rival Monsanto Co. last month won U.S. Food and Drug
Administration approval of a similar drug, Celebrex. It intends
to introduce the drug in late February, although doctors already
are writing prescriptions for it.
Relying on Vioxx
''Without MK-869, Merck will have to rely even more on Vioxx
and it's not good,'' to depend so much on one product, Krensavage
said.
Not only does Monsanto have a head start on Merck, Monsanto
has chosen a marketing partner, Pfizer Inc., that already has
beaten Merck in the marketing battle for a key drug.
Pfizer, which will work with Monsanto to sell Celebrex,
also helps Warner-Lambert Co. sell its cholesterol-reducing drug
Lipitor. Pfizer's assistance helped make Lipitor's 1997
introduction the best ever in the U.S. drug industry, a
record broken only by the 1998 introduction of Pfizer's impotence
pill Viagra.
From a Bloomberg article on Merck:
news.com
|
